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2 St. Olaf faculty members tenured, 11 promoted by college's board of regents

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July 12, 2001

NORTHFIELD, Minn. ? Six St. Olaf College faculty members were promoted to full professor, five were promoted to associate professor and two were granted tenure by the college's board of regents effective Sept. 1, 2001.

Promoted to professor were Mike Fitzgerald (history), Chuck Huff (psychology), Barbara Reed (religion and Asian studies), Jan Shoger (art), Martha Wallace (mathematics) and Anne Walter (biology). Promoted to associate professor were Rick Goedde (economics), Jim Hanson (religion), Margaret Odell (religion), Janice Roberts (dance) and Colin Wells (English).

Roberts and Wells were granted tenure. "The Board of Regents awards tenure only to those faculty members who excel in teaching and learning," said Provost and Dean of the College James Pence. "Janice and Colin are dynamic teachers, first-rate professionals and dedicated citizens of the campus community."

"Promotion in rank is one way the college recognizes the academic accomplishments of faculty members," Pence continued. "These 11 colleagues are making significant contributions to the quality of the St. Olaf education and to the academic and personal lives of our students. They are wonderful people and terrific professors, thoroughly dedicated to teaching young people ? a remarkable group."

Mike Fitzgerald earned a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. He joined the St. Olaf history faculty in 1986, teaching African-American history, Civil War and Reconstruction, and leading seminars on Southern history and race relations. He is the author of The Union League Movement in the Deep South, as well as a new book, Urban Reconstruction: Race, Class and Faction in Mobile, 1860?1885, to be published next year. Fitzgerald has served as director of the college's American Racial and Multicultural Studies and African Diaspora programs.

Chuck Huff holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from Princeton University and was a post-doctoral fellow with the Committee for Social Science Research in Computing at Carnegie Mellon University. A member of the St. Olaf psychology faculty since 1988, Huff has published research on the social effects of electronic interaction, the uses of computing in education, and the social and ethical issues associated with computing.

Barbara Reed received a Ph.D. from the School of Religion at the University of Iowa and as part of her graduate study spent a year at National Taiwan Normal University (Taipei). She joined the St. Olaf faculty in 1982; teaches the history of religions; and is chair of the Asian Studies Department. She has written articles about women in Chinese Buddhism and Taoism, and is co-author of the book Culture and Customs of Taiwan.

Jan Shoger earned a B.A. in studio art and art education and a master?s degree in design and printmaking from the University of Minnesota. She joined the St. Olaf art faculty in 1981, teaching printmaking and drawing. Since 1995 she has served as chair of Facilities Planning Task Force, Art and Dance Center Planning, and is a member of the Campus Framework Planning Task Force.

Martha Wallace, a 1975 St. Olaf graduate, earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics education from the University of Minnesota. She spent several years teaching secondary school mathematics before returning to St. Olaf, where she is in charge of the mathematics education program. She recently completed a two-year term as president of the Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics and regularly serves on several state and national committees dealing with mathematics education.

Anne Walter holds a doctorate from Duke University, a M.Sc. from the University of British Columbia and an A.B. from Grinnell College. She joined the St. Olaf biology faculty in 1994, teaching cell physiology, cellular biology, genetics and neuroscience, and is a team leader for the St. Olaf Surfaces Group.

Rick Goedde earned a B.B.A. and an M.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He joined the St. Olaf economics faculty in 1988, teaching management, finance and accounting. Goedde also has led Mare Balticum, the interdisciplinary international program.

James Hanson, a 1983 St. Olaf graduate, completed an M.Div. at Luther Seminary and a Ph.D. at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is the author of The Endangered Promises: Conflict in Mark, and has written other articles and reviews. He recently served as a fellow at the Center of Theological Inquiry at Princeton. He joined the St. Olaf religion faculty in 1992, and his areas of interest include the Gospels, Paul, Jewish-Christian dialogue and religion and the arts. Margaret Odell received a Ph.D. in biblical studies from the cooperative program in religion at the University of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Her areas of research are Old Testament prophecy and biblical theology. After recently publishing a collection of edited essays on theology and anthropology in Ezekiel, she is developing a commentary about Ezekiel for Smyth and Helwys Press.

Janice Roberts received a B.F.A. from Arizona State University and an M.F.A. from the University of Utah. She danced for eight years with Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company in Salt Lake City, Utah, and worked as a solo artist and guest choreographer with several universities and companies. She has been a member of the St. Olaf faculty since 1995, teaching modern dance and choreography and co-directing Companydance, the student modern dance ensemble. Colin Wells came to St. Olaf in 1995 after receiving a B.A. at Boston College and an M.A. and Ph.D. at Rutgers. Since then he has specialized in 18th-century British and American literature while teaching courses in comedy and satire, the novel, literature and colonialism, and literature and Marxism. His forthcoming book, The Devil and Doctor Dwight: Satire and Theology in the Early American Republic, focuses on the satiric poetry of early American writer, educator and theologian Timothy Dwight (1752?1817).

St. Olaf College prepares students to become responsible citizens of the world, fostering development of mind, body and spirit. A four-year, coeducational liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), St. Olaf has a student enrollment of 2,950 and a full-time faculty complement of approximately 300. It is one of Money Guide?s top 100 "elite values in college education today," and it leads the nation's colleges in percentage of students who study abroad.

Contact Michael Cooper at 507-786-3315 or cooperm@stolaf.edu.