Dean Strikwerda's end-of-year letter to A&S faculty
Carl Strikwerda, Dean of the Faculty in Arts and Sciences at William & Mary, recently sent the following end-of-year report to members of the faculty. - Ed.
Dear Colleagues in Arts and Sciences:
Thank you for your hard work and your dedication to our students and to scholarship during what has been a very demanding year. Budget cuts, the cancellation of salary increases and several faculty searches, searches for the new provost and vice president for student affairs, strategic planning, as well as the challenging round of advising, departmental and program committees, faculty hiring, and curricular planning have kept all of you very busy. On behalf of our students, alumni, and friends, sincere thanks for all that you do.
Despite the challenges we have faced, we have made substantial progress. We recruited our top candidates in virtually all of our searches this year. I hope that, despite the budget cut, we can authorize a large number of searches for next year. Arts &Sciences was very well-represented in the strategic planning process and outcome, laying the foundation for our planning efforts in 2009-10 and beyond. New websites have enhanced our communications efforts greatly. We created a new Minor in Civic Engagement and merged African and Black Studies into a new program in Africana Studies. The new Institute for the Theory and Practice of International Relations won major grants for the PLAID project, led by faculty from Economics, Government, and Sociology. The Integrated Science Center, both Phase I and II, has been finished and occupied, the expansion and renovation of Small Hall is moving ahead, and a feasibility study has been done for a future Arts Complex. Next fall, thanks to strong support from the Mellon Foundation and Swem Library, we will open a new Center for Geospatial Analysis in Swem which will expand our teaching and research in geographic information systems. While the renovation of Tucker Hall has unfortunately been delayed because of state funding issues, we have commenced a feasibility study on the future use of Tyler Hall. Both Tyler Hall and a portion of Blow Hall are being transferred to Arts & Sciences due to the School of Business moving to its new home. We have initial planning funds for Integrated Science Center Phase III.
I am particularly mindful of all the hours you spend in departmental and interdisciplinary program, College, and Arts & Sciences committees. Educational Policy, Faculty Affairs, Graduate Studies, Study Abroad, Retention, Promotion, and Tenure, Faculty Assembly, professor selection advisory and evaluation, and many, many more assignments take much time and effort. By contrast to many institutions, faculty governance is still strong at the College, thanks to all of you.
I would like to offer special congratulations to the following faculty members who have received W&M awards, professorships, or other honors:
Virginia Outstanding Faculty Awards
Lizabeth Allison, Department of Biology
Christopher D. Howard, Department of Government
Distinguished professorships:
Lisa Anderson, Economics, Francis West Professor of Economics
Terry Meyers, English, Chancellor Professor of English
Adam Potkay, English, Kenan Professor of the Humanities
Michael Tierney, Government, Hylton Associate Professor of International Relations
James P. Whittenburg, History, Pullen Professor of History
Term Professorships:
Lizabeth Allison, Margaret Hamilton Professor of Biology
Mark Forsyth, Dorman Associate Professor Biology
John Griffin, Class of 2012 Associate Professor of Biology
Murphy Faculty Fellow:
Deborah Morse, Department of English
University Professors for Teaching Excellence
Carey K. Bagdassarian, Department of Chemistry
Anne K. Rasmussen, Department of Music
Lawrence M. Leemis, Department of Mathematics
Weingartner Professor in International Studies
Michael Tierney, Government
William and Mary Professor of Community Studies
Anne Charity Hudley, English and Linguistics
Alumni Association Fellows for 2009:
Christopher Del Negro, Department of Applied Science
Robert Leventhal, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
Robin Looft-Wilson, Department of Kinesiology
Paul Manna, Department of Government
Dean's Distinguished Lecturers and Coco Faculty Fellows:
Simon Joyce, English and Literary and Cultural Studies
Christine Nemacheck, Government
Thomas A. Graves, Jr. Award for Teaching Excellence:
Tom Heacox, Department of English
Thomas Jefferson Award:
Katherine M. Kulick, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award:
Rowan Lockwood, Department of Geology
Faculty Representative to the Board of Visitors:
Katherine Kulick, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
Plumeri Faculty Awards:
Todd D. Averett, Department of Physics
Francie Cate-Arries, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
Tun-jen Cheng, Department of Government
Daniel A. Cristol, Department of Biology
Martin D. Gallivan, Department of Anthropology
Robert L. Hicks, Department of Economics
Kris E. Lane, Department of History
Chi-Kwong Li, Department of Mathematics
Adam S. Potkay, Department of English
Suzanne Raitt, Department of English
Leiba Rodman, Department of Mathematics
Margaret S. Saha, Department of Biology
Martin B. Schmidt, Department of Economics
Shiwei Zhang, Department of Physics
Assistant professors promoted to associate professor and given tenure:
Christopher Del Negro, Applied Science
Brennan Harris, Kinesiology
Georgia Irby-Massie, Classical Studies
Robert Leventhal, Modern Languages and Literatures
Qun Li, Computer Science
Robin Looft-Wilson, Kinesiology
Paul Manna, Government
Paul Mapp, History
Vassiliki Panoussi, Classical Studies
Jennifer Putzi, English and Women's Studies
Christopher Owens, Theatre, Speech, and Dance
Frederick Smith, Anthropology
Jennifer Stevens, Psychology
Francis Tanglao-Aguas, Theatre, Speech, and Dance
Haining Wang, Computer Science
Sibel Zandi-Sayek, Art and Art History
Associate professor given tenure:
Peter Kemper, Computer Science
Associate professors promoted to full professor:
Christopher Carone, Physics
Randy Chambers, Biology
Paul Davies, Philosophy
Cindy Hahamovitch, History
Gunter Luepke, Applied Science
Joel Schwartz, Government
I also wish to thank the department chairs and program directors, including the following outgoing members of the Dean's Advisory Council, for their generous service to Arts & Sciences. I look forward to working with the continuing and new chairs/directors.
Eric Bradley, Biology, Chair of Applied Science, succeeded by Mark Hinders, Applied Science
Paul Heideman, Chair of Biology, succeeded by Liz Allison, Biology
Steve Holliday, Chair of Theatre, Speech, and Dance, succeeded by Joan Gavaler, TSD
Jack Martin, Chair of English, succeeded by Liz Barnes, English, as Interim Chair
Gary Rice, Chair of Chemistry, succeeded by Chris Abelt, Chemistry
I would also like to give a special word of thanks to Kimberley Phillips, Cummings Associate Professor of American Studies and History, who is stepping down after two successful years as Dean for Educational Policy to return to the faculty.
We had an excellent recruiting year. Joining us next year will be 17 new faculty members whom we will introduce to you in the fall. Until then, best wishes and thanks again for your productive and creative work this year.
