Eleven Holy Cross Faculty Members Receive Tenure

WORCESTER, Mass. – This spring, 11 members of the College of the Holy Cross faculty have been promoted to the rank of associate professor, with tenure.

Robert M. Bellin, of the biology department, earned and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Iowa State University and his B.A. in chemistry from St. John’s University. He is the co-chair of the College’s biochemistry concentration and recently received a Major Research Instrumentation grants from the National Science Foundation to establish a biochemistry core faculty. An assistant professor since 2002, Bellin co-wrote an article titled “The Holy Cross Biochemistry Concentration: An Integrated Four-Year Program to Develop Undergraduate Research Scholars,” which was published in Developing and Sustaining a Research-Supportive Curriculum: A Compendium of Successful Practices (Council on Undergraduate Research, 2007).  Bellin's laboratory research focuses on developing and understanding the proteins involved in linking the cytoskeleton to the cell membrane, with a specific focus on the process of cell adhesion.

Rev. William A. Clark, S.J., of the religious studies department, specializes in systematic theology, particularly ecclesiology, with a special interest in parish life and issues affecting local church communities.  A member of the Holy Cross faculty since 2001, he earned degrees at Williams College, Loyola University of Chicago, and his doctorate at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass. He is the author of A Voice of Their Own: The Authority of the Local Parish (Liturgical Press, 2005), and has published articles in Philosophy and Theology and Catholic Historical Review.

Christine A. Coch, of the English department, earned her Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Chicago and her B.A. from Yale University. Specializing in 16th- and 17th-century English literature, she has taught at Holy Cross since 2002. She has published articles on early modern representations of motherhood, gender, pleasure, and gardens in such journals as English Literary Renaissance and Renaissance and Reformation.

Joshua R. Farrell ’94, of the chemistry department, earned his Ph.D. and M.A at Northwestern University and completed his NIH postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before becoming the first person to hold the Thomas E. D’Ambra Professorship in Chemistry at Holy Cross. A contributor to numerous publications, Farrell runs an undergraduate summer research program on organic and inorganic chemistry at the College. Victor A. Matheson, of the economics department, earned his Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and his B.A. from St. Olaf College. He specializes in sports economics, public finance, and the economics of lotteries and gaming. He has provided expert commentary to numerous media organizations including Forbes Magazine, ESPN Magazine, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, National Public Radio, and The Los Angeles Times, and has testified before the Illinois State Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. The author of numerous articles and book chapters, his work has appeared in Southern Economic Journal, Contemporary Economic Policy, Urban Studies, and Economics Letters among other outlets.

Jonathan D. Mulrooney, of the English department, earned his Ph.D. from Boston University, his M.A. from the University of Toronto, and his B.A. from Boston College. A member of Holy Cross faculty since 2004 and director of the English department’s honors program, his teaching interests include British Romantic literature, 19th-century British and American literature, poetry, film, and the work of J.R.R. Tolkien.  His articles on Romanticism, Irish literature, and other topics have appeared in numerous academic journals and collections, including Studies in Romanticism, Studies in the Novel, and The Cambridge Companion to Theatre, 1730-1830.  He is currently working on a book, Romanticism and Theatrical Experience, which examines connections between poetry and theater in early 19-century Britain. He has lectured widely throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Kevin J. Quinn, of the chemistry department, earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison before completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. A member of the Holy Cross faculty since 2002, he mentors numerous undergraduate research students exploring the synthesis of biologically active organic molecules. His research at Holy Cross has received funding from Research Corporation and the American Chemical Society and has been published in Organic Letters, Tetrahedron Letters and Tetrahedron.

B. Jeffrey Reno, of the political science department, earned his Ph.D., M.A. and B.A. from Michigan State University, before becoming a member of the Holy Cross faculty in 2002. Reno is the founding co-director of the Holy Cross Program on Race, Ethnicity, and Urban Affairs and recently received the Consortium on High Achievement and Success Faculty Award for Promoting Excellence. He is currently working on a book titled Human Nature and Policy Design.

Cristi Rinklin, of the visual arts department, earned her M.F.A. from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis and became a member of the Holy Cross faculty in 2002.  A working painter, Rinklin exhibits and lectures throughout the country. Recently, her work was on display at the exhibition Big Bang! Abstract Painting for the 21st Century, at the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, Mass., the Rhys Gallery in Boston, and a site-specific installation piece, Nuvolomondo, was on view at Tufts University. She is currently the curator of Zoologia Fantastica, an exhibition at the Cantor Art Gallery, which addresses the aesthetic and ethical issues concerning the natural world, especially the animal kingdom.

Gareth E. Roberts, of the mathematics and computer science department, received his Ph.D. in mathematics from Boston University. A member of the Holy Cross faculty since 2001, he specializes in dynamical systems and celestial mechanics. Roberts recently received a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation and a Charles & Rosanna Batchelor (Ford) Summer Faculty Fellowship. He has given lectures and presentations all over the world, including Taiwan, Japan, Belgium, France, Germany and Mexico, and has mentored several undergraduate researchers.

William V. Sobczak, of the biology department, a member of the Holy Cross faculty since 2002, earned his Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Cornell University, his M.S. in zoology from Michigan State University and his B.A. from Bucknell University. He was the recipient of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography’s 2004 Raymond L. Lindeman Award, which is given annually in recognition of an outstanding paper in the aquatic sciences to a scientist under the age of 35 and has been involved locally in a number of important ecology research projects, including research at the Harvard Forest Long-term Ecological Research Site and the Blackstone River National Heritage Corridor. He is the author of numerous publications in leading academic journals, including Ecology, Ecological Applications, Limnology and Oceanography, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.