Note: This article is over a year old and information contained in it may no longer be accurate. Please use the contact information in the lower-left corner to verify any information in this article.

St. Olaf announces faculty promotions, tenure

By James Daly '13
February 29, 2012

St. Olaf Provost and Dean of the College Marci Sortor has announced the promotion of five faculty members: Richard Brown in the Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, has been promoted to full professor; promoted to associate professor are Grace Cho in the Psychology Department, Steven Freedberg in Biology, Anna Kuxhausen in History, and Ariel Strichartz in Romance Languages.

In addition, Cho, Freedberg, Kuxhausen, and Assistant Professor of Religion Jamie Schillinger '93 have been granted tenure.

Granted tenure
Schillinger holds a Ph.D. in religious ethics from the University of Chicago Divinity School, and he studied at the Institut Français d'études Arabes in Damascus, Syria, 2000–01. His academic interests include theology and ethics in both the Christian and Islamic traditions, the philosophy of religion, and the relationship between religion and politics. His current research concerns understanding and improving Christian-Muslim relations and dialogue.

Promoted to associate professor
Strichartz first became fascinated by the Spanish-speaking world in her native New Mexico. She joined the faculty in 2002 after earning her Ph.D. in Spanish at the University of Kansas. Currently she is researching how Argentina’s Armenian population has articulated its collective memory of the Armenian Genocide within the context of post-dictatorial Argentina.

Granted tenure and promoted to associate professor
Cho, who joined the faculty in 2008, is a developmental psychologist who earned her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research investigates the sociocultural factors and parenting processes that shape children's emotional and self-development.

Freedberg joined the faculty in 2006 after earning a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Indiana University. His research involves using genetic analysis and computer programming to examine evolutionary processes. Thanks to Freedberg, St. Olaf is home to one of the most diverse rare turtle collections of any American college or university, including species not found in any other research institution in the country.

Kuxhausen joined the faculty in 2005 after earning her Ph.D. at the University of Michigan. She is researching the history of the body, maternity, and childhood in early modern Russia. Her book From Utero to the Body Politic: Raising the Nation in Enlightenment Russia (University of Wisconsin Press) will be published this fall.

Promoted to Full Professor
Brown earned his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and joined the faculty in 1990. For the past two decades he has designed the curriculum of the computer science major, including his groundbreaking work to develop "multicore" computer education. 

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.