New Appointments to Endowed Chairs

Thirteen Dartmouth faculty members were recently honored with endowed professorships. “These professors bring energy and distinction to our campus,” says Carol Folt, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and professor of biological sciences. “Recipients of endowed professorships are selected in recognition of their groundbreaking contributions as scholars, and for the ways they use their expertise to enrich the life of our campus through teaching, mentoring, academic leadership, and development of programs and curriculum at the cutting edge of knowledge.”

Colin Calloway
Department of History and the Program in Native American Studies
Samson Occom Professorship
Calloway’s interests lie in both the indigenous culture of Native Americans before 1492 and the points of contact between Native Americans and Europeans. He says he “finds teaching Native American history at Dartmouth especially rewarding because there are always a number of Native students in my classes, which means there are multiple Native, as well as non-Native perspectives.” Calloway was reappointed to this chair, which was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Fairchild Foundation. The chair specifically supports Dartmouth’s commitment to Native American studies and Native American education.

John Carey
Department of Government
John Wentworth Professorship in the Social Sciences
Carey’s research interests lie in comparative politics, and he teaches upper-level courses on elections and on Latin American politics. “I also enjoy being co-director of the department’s honors program, where I work with students conducting original research projects and writing senior theses,” he says. The Wentworth Professorship was established in 1995 by an anonymous donor to recognize faculty whose teaching significantly contributes to their field.

Mona Domosh
Department of Geography and the Program in Women’s and Gender Studies
Joan P. and Edward J. Foley, Jr. 1933 Professorship
Domosh’s research spans cultural, urban, and feminist geography including such topics as transnational space or invented cities. Domosh is often inspired by the students who assist with her research. “They always add new dimensions and ways of thinking that I find helpful,” she says. Faculty fellowships were established by a gift from Edward Foley ’33 in 1995, and a few years later, his sons gave additional funds to convert them into a professorship named for their parents.

Hany Farid
Department of Computer Science
David T. McLaughlin Distinguished Professorship
Farid’s work on image analysis is at the crossroads of computer science, engineering, mathematics, optics, and psychology. “My students and I work primarily in the area of digital forensics, where we develop mathematical and computational techniques to expose forgeries in digital audio, image, video, and printed documents,” he says. This professorship was established in 1987 by the Trustees to honor the late David T. McLaughlin ’54, Tuck ’55, Dartmouth’s 14th president.

Andrew Friedland
Program in Environmental Studies
Richard and Jane Pearl Professorship in Environmental Studies
Friedland’s research focuses on understanding the effects of atmospheric pollutants on high-elevation forests in New England and New York, and also on individual choices and their impact on energy use and the environment. “I spend time each year pursuing topics related to personal energy use, like home climate control, travel, and electricity use. The range of high and low energy users among undergraduates and faculty is quite surprising,” he says. “Some people use five or ten times as much energy as others.” Friedland is the first to hold this chair, which was established in December 2006 to support a faculty member who will prepare tomorrow’s leaders to tackle the world’s problems.

Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina
Department of English
Kathe Tappe Vernon Professorship in Biography
Gerzina’s scholarly interests encompass Victorian literature and the Black experience in 18th- and 19th-century England and America. Her scholarship spans the fields of 19th- and early 20th-century British studies, race in 18th-century Britain, African American studies and literature, and biography. Gerzina encourages students to participate in teaching and research. “Over the past year, two students have worked with me on a published book, and another is currently a Presidential Scholar,” she says. This professorship was established through a gift from Professor Ambrose White Vernon ’07H.

James Haxby
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Evans Family Distinguished Professorship at Dartmouth College
Haxby, currently at Princeton, will join the Dartmouth faculty in January 2008. In his field of cognitive neuroscience, he uses fMRI data to map face recognition, and study its role in social communication.  He is also involved in developing new methods for analyzing fMRI data using machine learning pattern classifiers. “I’m eager to begin working with Dartmouth students,” Haxby says. “Student ideas have always been an important source of inspiration for me.” This endowed chair was established in 2007 by R. Bradford Evans ’64 for faculty with the ability to create innovative programs.

Lynn Higgins
Department of French and Italian and the Program in Comparative Literature
Israel Evans Professorship in Oratory and Belles Lettres
Higgins teaches French cinema and literature, and she has also directed 15 off-campus programs in France and in Fez, Morocco. “Teaching in a foreign setting provides opportunities to demonstrate the links between research and teaching, and between learning and teaching. For example, in Fez, I took the Arabic language course along with the students. Students said they liked seeing me in class, because it suggested that learning doesn’t end at graduation. It’s a lifelong adventure.” This professorship was established in 1838 as a bequest.

Richard Howarth
Program in Environmental Studies
Pat and John Rosenwald Professorship
Howarth’s work blends natural resource science, economics, energy issues, and policy to explore the balance between economic growth and environmental quality. “I am an economist whose research and teaching emphasize issues such as climate change, energy use, and ecological conservation,” he says. He believes that these problems require an interdisciplinary approach that integrates science, economics, politics, and ethics. This chair was established in 1978 to support a professor and provide opportunities and resources that will contribute to the advancement of knowledge.

Theodore Levin
Department of Music and the Program in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Parents’ Distinguished Research Professorship in the Humanities
Levin’s devotion to Eurasian and Central Asian folklore and music has lead him to Bosnia, Russia, Azerbaijan, and beyond, where he works to preserve and analyze the culture. “I intend to use the time afforded by the Parents’ Chair to focus on my current book project on culture and development in Central Asia, and during terms when I’m not teaching at Dartmouth, I plan to base myself in the ‘-stans,’ where I have lived, traveled, and conducted research over the last 30 years,” said Levin in an e-mail from Kyrgyzstan. This chair was established in 1987 by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Fairchild Foundation to support the research of faculty in the humanities.

Kathleen McGarry
Department of Economics
Susan and Joel Z.Hyatt 1972 Professorship
McGarry came from UCLA to join the Dartmouth faculty this fall. Her research involves health economics and the economics of aging, and she has explored such topics as pensions, insurance markets, and Medicare. “I very much enjoy my time in the classroom, and I’ve won the UCLA economics department teaching award several times,” says McGarry. “I’m looking forward to working with the students at Dartmouth and to getting them involved in my research.” This chair supports faculty who work to maintain an interdisciplinary learning environment.

Jonathan Skinner
Department of Economics
John Sloan Dickey Third Century Professorship in the Social Sciences
Skinner’s research interests range from retirement savings to health care inequities. His work is also part of Dartmouth’s Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, an interdisciplinary group that looks into the distribution and effectiveness of health resources nationwide. “What I like about the Dartmouth economics students is that so many have strong backgrounds in other disciplines, which in turn allows some truly path-breaking student-directed research, whether on the link between income inequality and crime, or the long-term effects of in utero exposure to the 1918 influenza virus.” This chair was established in 1971 by an anonymous donor participating in the Third Century Fund.

Douglas Staiger
Department of Economics
John French Professorship in Economics
Staiger’s focus is applied economics, studying school accountability and nursing labor markets. “I work closely with the students as they write original empirical research papers in economics during a small seminar I teach on advanced methods. I have also advised thesis students, including an exciting project this year that looked into how early school achievement was related to adult health and mortality outcomes in Finland,” he says. This professorship was established in 1983 by a gift from Laurence Rockefeller to honor the French family’s long history at Dartmouth.

By SUSAN KNAPP

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