Faculty Assembly Celebrates Progress, Excellence

The creation of new faculty positions — which has contributed to bringing the student to faculty ratio to nearly 10:1, among the best in the country — is an example of the excitement and strong momentum Holy Cross is experiencing, according to the academic dean’s report to the faculty.

James M. Kee, Ph.D., interim vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College, delivered remarks at a recent faculty assembly.

Kee said he was largely reporting upon events and accomplishments that took place thanks to Stephen Ainlay, most recent vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College, who left after 23 years at Holy Cross to become president of Union College.

“As many of our senior colleagues have retired, we have hired more new faculty than ever before in the history of the College,” he said. “The departments have done a fine job rising to the challenge of this transition, and we’ve all worked hard to introduce our new colleagues to the mission and ethos of Holy Cross.”

Kee reported on the Trustees’ approval of a salary initiative. “These actions bespeak the Trustees’ respect for the work of the faculty, and their recognition of how important it is for the College to establish and maintain a competitive salary structure,” he said.

Other building and curriculum projects were also reported on, including renovation of the science buildings on campus and programs for first-year students.

“Never before have resources of this magnitude been allocated simultaneously to projects of such significance,” he said. “Taken together, and with the cooperation of the faculty, they mark the beginning of a new chapter at Holy Cross.”

A peek into the future, however, wouldn’t be complete without the reflection of outstanding faculty achievements in the past year.

Matthew Koss, assistant professor of physics, led the first of a series of three annual summer professional development workshops for the Worcester Public Schools; Catherine Roberts, associate professor of mathematics, along with Kathleen Robertson of the President’s Office, helped coordinate the annual Blackstone Heritage Symposium; Virginia Raguin, professor of visual arts, mounted the extraordinary exhibition, Catholic Collecting, Catholic Reflection, 1538-1850, a collection of extremely rare Catholic religious objects from early modern England and America, in the Cantor Art Gallery.

“Our success in acquiring grants was again striking,” Kee said, mentioning the $795,000 grant Ken Mills, assistant professor of chemistry, and the $1.07 million grant Amy Wolfson, associate professor of psychology, received. “All told, 17 Holy Cross faculty members, working with our superb director of grants, Chick Weiss, were awarded grants in 2005-2006.”

Appropriately, a “Celebration of Faculty Scholarship” followed the assembly, recognizing 28 new books authored or edited by faculty, 97 essays and articles, seven chapters, five encyclopedia entries, seven exhibitions and productions, 15 performances and premiers, two abstracts and 56 reviews.

In presenting Thomas Worcester, S.J., associate professor of history, with the Mary Louise Marfuggi Faculty Award, Kee said, “Tom was a key player in creating the highly acclaimed exhibition Hope and Healing: Painting in Italy in a Time of Plague, 1500-1800 at the Worcester Art Museum last year. The exhibition brought a great deal of favorable coverage to the city, to the museum, and to Holy Cross, and the exhibition was also a great critical success, reviewed favorably by, among others, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, and National Catholic Weekly.”

Made possible by a generous gift from Richard A. Marfuggi, M.D., ’72, in honor of his mother, the award recognizes faculty with an exemplary record of scholarship and outstanding achievement in the creation of an original work in the arts and sciences.

Also at the gathering, Edward Thompson, professor of sociology and chair of the sociology and anthropology department, was named the 2006 Holy Cross Distinguished Teacher of the Year. The Distinguished Teaching Award was established to recognize the dedicated faculty members at the College and carries with it a $1,000 honorarium. He will be presented his award at the annual Faculty Convocation in the fall.