Kenneth Mills, of the department of chemistry, Ellen Perry, of the department of classics and Stephanie Yuhl, of the department of history, have been appointed to endowed positions at the College, which they will hold through June 2024.
Kenneth Mills, Anthony and Renee Marlon Professor in the Sciences
Kenneth Mills succeeds Cristina Ballantine, of the department of mathematics and computer science, in the role of Anthony and Renee Marlon Professor in the Sciences.
Mills joined Holy Cross in 2001, was tenured in 2007 and promoted to the rank of professor in 2014. A specialist in protein splicing, mechanistic enzymology, protein chemistry and guided-inquiry undergraduate lab development, his work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award from the Dreyfus Foundation, the Undergraduate Outreach Award from the Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the College’s Mary Louise Marfuggi Award for Outstanding Scholarship. He was also named a Cottrell Scholar by Research Corporation in 2015.
"I greatly appreciate the support that the Marlon family has provided for the sciences at Holy Cross," Mills says. "I look forward to continuing my work with talented Holy Cross undergraduate scientists and hope that their time in the Mills lab family will play a part in preparing them for their future success."
He has authored work in more than 30 publications and awarded grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Research Corporation and the American Chemical Society, as well as over $2.5 million in grants from the National Science Foundation, including a CAREER grant.
Mills is a dedicated research mentor who has supervised 70 students in his lab and included student co-authors on 14 of his publications. In addition to teaching in the chemistry department, he has taught in Montserrat and is co-director of the biochemistry concentration. He co-founded the First Year Research Advancement Program, which provides supervised research experiences, mentoring and other support to increase persistence and success in STEM majors for underrepresented and first-generation students. He has served in numerous leadership roles at the College, including on the Finance and Planning Council, the Committee on Tenure and Promotion (CTP) and others, and served as chair of the chemistry department from 2010-2014 and as associate dean of the faculty 2016-2017. Currently, he is co-chairing the Collegewide strategic planning process.
Ellen Perry, Monsignor Edward G. Murray Professor in the Arts and Humanities
Ellen Perry succeeds Susan Elizabeth Sweeney, professor of English, as Monsignor Edward G. Murray Professor in the Arts and Humanities.
Perry joined the College in 1997, was tenured in 2004 and promoted to the rank of professor in 2017. Her scholarly expertise is in classical archeology, Roman art and architecture, ancient religious spaces and archeological ethics.
She is the author of "The Aesthetics of Emulation in the Visual Arts of Ancient Rome" and co-editor of "Roman Artists, Patrons and Public Consumption: Familiar Works Reconsidered." She has also published numerous articles, chapters and reviews in scholarly journals and collections.
"It's an enormous privilege to be appointed the Monsignor Murray Professor," Perry says. "I have great admiration for my predecessors in this role and feel fortunate to be at a College where the institutional support is strong both for the arts and for the humanities."
Perry has been a fellow of the American Academy in Rome as well as the American Schools of Classical Studies in Athens. She served as president of the Classical Association of New England and from 2014–2020 served as program chair for the annual meeting committee of the Archaeological Institute of America.
Within the classics department, she teaches courses in classical languages and literature and classical art and archaeology, including those on archeological ethics and the modern use of archaeology in the construction of national and ethnic narratives. She has taught in the Rome Maymester program, and taught and served as a cluster director in Montserrat. She is currently director of the College Scholar Programs, overseeing the College Honors Program and the Fenwick Scholar Program. In addition to these leadership roles, she has served on the Curriculum Committee, CTP and other faculty committees, and as interim chair of the classics department. She has participated in Academic Services and Learning Resources’ Mentor Program for many years, and was awarded the College’s Mary Louise Marfuggi Award for Academic Advisement in 2012.
Stephanie Yuhl, W. Arthur Garrity, Sr. Professor in Human Nature, Ethics and Society
Stephanie Yuhl succeeds Edward Isser, associate dean for performing arts, as W. Arthur Garrity, Sr. Professor in Human Nature, Ethics and Society.
Yuhl joined the College in 2000, was tenured in 2006 and promoted to the rank of professor in 2013. Since 2016, she has been associate faculty in the Critical Conservation Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Yuhl is the author of the award-winning book "A Golden Haze of Memory: The Making of Historic Charleston" and coauthor of the book "LGBTQ+ Worcester For The Record," as well as numerous articles, chapters and reviews in scholarly journals and collections.
"Given the incredibly high caliber and dedication of my faculty colleagues at Holy Cross, I am truly humbled and honored to be named the next W. Arthur Garrity, Sr. Professor," she says. "In the next few years, I am excited to explore the ways this position will shape my scholarship, community engagement and work with our terrific Holy Cross students. Thank you to the generous Garrity family for making this kind of opportunity possible for our faculty."
In the history department, Yuhl teaches in the area of 20th-century United States history, including courses on social movements, gender and sexuality, public history and memory, and digital humanities. She has taught in the Paris Maymester program, the Passport Program and in Montserrat, for which she also served as a cluster director and, from 2014-19, as program director.
As a scholar, Yuhl has been deeply engaged in helping local communities tell their stories more fully. She is lead project scholar and author of "Revisiting Prop Master: A Digital Exhibition and Catalog at the College of Charleston." Closer to home, she curated a 2017 exhibition, "Worcester in 50 Objects," at the Worcester Historical Museum. She served as lead coordinator and co-curator for the museum’s "LBGTQ+ Worcester History Project," a major community-based archive, oral history and exhibition building project (2018-present) funded by the Holy Cross Scholarship in Action grant with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. For her work on the LGBTQ+ Worcester History Project, Yuhl and her curation team received a mayoral citation and key to the city of Worcester, as well as the Safe Homes "People of Courage" Award. Yuhl was also co-curator and faculty adviser for a related exhibit, "I'm Not the Only One: LGBTQ+ Histories at Holy Cross," in 2019. Her public history work extends to Holy Cross, where she has served on two committees related to the historical legacies of the College’s first president, Rev. Thomas F. Mulledy, S.J. and Patrick F. Healy, S.J., a Jesuit scholastic at Holy Cross, and racial justice at the College.
Yuhl's work with students has been recognized with the College's Mary Louise Marfuggi Award for Academic Advisement in 2011 and the Donal J. Burns '49 Career Teaching Medal in 2017.
Written for the Summer 2021 issue of Holy Cross Magazine.
About Holy Cross Magazine
Holy Cross Magazine (HCM) is the quarterly alumni publication of the College of the Holy Cross. The award-winning publication is mailed to alumni and friends of the College and includes intriguing profiles, make-you-think features, alumni news, exclusive photos and more. Visit magazine.holycross.edu/about to contact HCM, submit alumni class notes, milestones, or letters to the editor.
