Dean of the College Celebrates Major Faculty Accomplishments

It was another enormously productive year among faculty members at the College of the Holy Cross, reported Timothy R. Austin, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College, at his spring address to the faculty assembly on April 24.

Austin said that, in the last year, members of the 240-person faculty “published 22 books; 104 articles, essays and book chapters; 57 reviews; 10 abstracts; and 3 dictionary or encyclopedia entries. Other colleagues contributed to 11 exhibitions, productions or premieres and produced 4 CDs. And 31 externally funded projects were active on campus in 2006-2007.”

A “Celebration of Faculty Scholarship” [PDF] followed the assembly, representing these works produced by faculty members.

Austin highlighted a number of accomplishments in his speech:

Maurice Geracht, Stephen J. Prior Professor of Humanities, was recognized for serving as director of Study Abroad since 1989. At the end of the academic year, Geracht will step back into his role as professor in the English department. Mark E. Lincicome, associate professor of history, has been named the new director of the study abroad program.

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Seventeen new faculty members will arrive at Holy Cross in the fall. “The faculty ‘Class of 2007,’ nine men and eight women, will include a former Beane Scholar who is completing his Ph.D. at Harvard; a former Rhodes scholar who is also a winner of the O. Henry Prize (awarded to the top twenty short stories published in a given year); a current NEH Fellow at the Newberry Library; a tenured teaching fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge; and a total for six foreign nationals,” said Austin.

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Serving in an important administrative role in Academic Affairs, John Cull, graduate studies advisor, was congratulated for helping students apply for — and land — prestigious national and international awards. “Over the course of many years, he has mastered the increasingly complex world of these fellowship and scholarship programs and he has worked diligently with hundreds of students to hone their skills and to channel their enthusiasm for graduate study,” said Austin.

Cull, who argued that the responsibilities of the office had outgrown the time that a part-time faculty director could commit to them, recommended that the position be modified to a full-time, non-faculty position. Accordingly, the newly defined position will soon be advertised and Cull will return to the department of modern languages and literatures next January, ensuring a smooth transition for the new director.

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Austin also expressed his appreciation to Rick Herrick, professor in chemistry, who is stepping down as science coordinator after four years. It is “useful … to be able to turn to one individual who understands our science programs and can pull together faculty contributions around a common focus,” Austin said. “Rick has also provided important leadership to the programs that support summer research opportunities on campus for science students.”

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Student Government Association co-chairs Kerry Anne Hoffman ’07, and Patrick Murray ’07, received praise for their hard work over the last year. “Their leadership this year resulted in many successful programs,” said Austin, noting the Battle of the Departments, which pits faculty members against students in a game of trivia; and Bring Your Child to Work Day, held on Presidents Day.

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Austin acknowledged John D. O’Connell, Holy Cross Class of ’53 and associate professor emeritus, who joined the College as an instructor in the department of economics in 1957. He retired from full-time teaching in 2001, and has regularly offered important classes on a part-time basis since his retirement. “We do not have anything like the time it would take to enumerate all of the service that ‘John D.’ has provided to his students, to his colleagues, and to the study of accounting and finance in the past fifty years of continuous teaching on our faculty,” said Austin. Instead, with respect and admiration, the faculty-filled Hogan Ballroom, gave their colleague a standing ovation.

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Also receiving applause were Bill Rynders, associate professor of theatre, and Connie Schick, professor of French, who will be retiring at the end of the 2006-07 academic year.

Rynders “has taught and mentored countless students, and served as chair of his department and as a member of countless committees — including a curtain call of sorts on this year’s Academic Affairs Council,” said Austin. “Above all, though, Bill has been in [professor of theatre] Steve Vineberg’s words, a magician, ‘[turning] Fenwick Theatre into … Montezuma’s Mexico, a dilapidated cottage … in turn-of-the-century Nantucket, revolutionary Paris, and the fantasy world [of] A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest — all of this while negotiating a theatre space with minimal backstage space and technical challenges that would have defeated a less inventive man.”

In celebrating Schick’s achievements, Austin stated: “A distinguished scholar of nineteenth-century French literature, Québecois literature, and the ethnic literature of French Americans, Connie published a book on poet Théophile Gautier in 1994, over twenty articles in peer-reviewed journals, and a number of book reviews. According to Paco Gago-Jover, “many students [have] commented on [Connie’s] dynamic, engaging, and lively teaching style and the fascinating cross-cultural aspects that she explored in her advanced courses.”

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Leila Philip, recently tenured member of the English department, was recognized for securing a Guggenheim Fellowship for 2007-08. “Significantly, Leila becomes the third member of the Holy Cross faculty in twelve years to be honored with a Guggenheim, following in the footsteps of [associate professor of music] Osvaldo Golijov and [associate professor of visual arts] Robert ParkeHarrison,” said Austin.

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Jessica Waldoff, associate professor and chair of the music department, received this year’s Marfuggi Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholarship.