TACOMA, Wash. – University of Puget Sound is pleased to announce three new appointments of faculty members to endowed positions.
Professor of Religion Suzanne Holland, Professor of Business and Leadership Jeff Matthews, and Professor of Physics and Science, Technology, and Society, Jim Evans have accepted the three appointments, which come with the enthusiastic support of President Ronald R. Thomas. In addition Puget Sound has opened the nomination process for two further endowed positions.
“The generosity of donors to endowments that have created new positions in perpetuity, support awards for outstanding teaching and scholarship, and provide for ongoing faculty and curricular development truly makes a difference in the academic life of this campus and the educational experience of Puget Sound students,” said Kris Bartanen, academic vice president and dean of the university. “I am immensely proud of the work of the faculty and honored to be able to announce the recognitions of Suzanne, Jeff, and Jim—each of whom represents this work so well.”
Holland came to Puget Sound in 1997 having completed her doctorate at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley, Calif. She has a distinguished record as a national and international lecturer for academic and medical conferences; has served as an invited faculty member at Boston College, GTU, and Colgate University; and is an affiliate professor of bioethics and humanities at University of Washington School of Medicine, as well as an advisory board member for UW's Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine. In addition to writing for peer-reviewed journals and anthologies, she has published two books, most recently as co-author of Achieving Justice in Genomic Translation: Re-Thinking the Pathway to Benefit (Oxford University Press, 2011). Her contributions to her profession and to Puget Sound are numerous and significant, including coordinating the work to host the 2010 National Undergraduate Bioethics Conference on campus.
As Magee chair Holland will have interdisciplinary teaching responsibilities, develop new coursework in bioethics, and help develop programs that, in accord with the Civic Scholarship Initiative, will cultivate stronger links between Puget Sound and the local health care community.
Matthews holds a doctorate in history from University of Kentucky and held leadership positions in banking and investment firms prior to making a career transition to college teaching and scholarship. The 2009 recipient of the President’s Teaching Award, he is the author of three books, including Blacksheep Leadership, forthcoming in February. He has written numerous articles, essays, reviews, and case studies in both academic and popular publications. His roster of service contributions to the campus is extensive and distinguished.
As Jewett professor Matthews will focus on several scholarly projects in history and leadership that he looks forward to moving to publication. The Jewett Professorship was established in 1980 as the first fully endowed chair in the history of the university.
Evans has completed three books, including editing, with Professor Alan Thorndike, the internationally published Quantum Mechanics at the Crossroads: New Perspectives from History, Philosophy and Physics (Springer, 2007). He has authored more than 70 articles, translations, scientific and pedagogical papers, and essay and book reviews. He is currently at work on a history of the principle of least action, a project that will span the history of physics through the 18th and 20th centuries and draw upon his two decades of work as an historian and scientist.
Evans joined Puget Sound in 1984, following postdoctoral work at Centre Alexandre Koyré, Paris, and University of Washington, where he earned his doctoral degree. His outstanding teaching was recognized in 2008 by a Washington State Professor of the Year Award from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Council for the Advancement and Support of Education.
The selection process now begins for two other endowed positions. The Robert G. Albertson Professorship, an interdisciplinary appointment focused on the core curriculum, will become open with the retirement of Professor of International Political Economy Michael Veseth in May 2013. The next James Dolliver National Endowment for the Humanities Distinguished Teaching Professor, a role that focuses on curricular and faculty development, also will be named. Puget Sound has 10 endowed professorships thanks to the generosity of donors.
Photos on page: Top right: The Color Post and Collins Memorial Library at night; Top left: Suzanne Holland; Above right: Jeff Matthews; Above left: Jim Evans. Photos by Ross Mulhausen.
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