New Department Chairs, Promotions and Tenure announced for Berea College faculty

Stephanie Browner, Dean of Faculty at Berea College, has announced new academic department chairs and program directors at the College. New department chairs are Dr. Sean Clark, Agriculture and Natural Resources; Dr. Jeanne Hoch, Foreign Languages; Dr. Marilla Scudder-Davis, Psychology, and Dr. Clifford Sowell, Economics. In addition to new chairpersons, Dr. Robert Boyce will resume as chairperson for the Department of Art; Dr. Michael Rivage-Seul will serve as Coordinator of the College’s new Peace and Social Justice Program, and Dr. Chad Berry will serve as the Director of Appalachian Studies.

Associate Professor Steve Gowler is the new Director of General Education, a four-year appointment. Prior to beginning his term, Gowler was head of Hutchins Library Special Collections and also taught courses in General Education. He has been actively involved in General Education assessment over the past ten years, has published articles on topics such as liberal education and libraries and has served as the Project Director for grants for the digitization of Appalachian music and oral history collection. Gowler holds a B.A. from Campbellsville College, an M.A. in Theology from Vanderbilt University, M.A. in English from the University of Louisville, M.A. in Library Science from the University of Iowa, and a Ph.D. in the History of Religious Thought from the University of Iowa.

Tenure for six faculty members was approved by action of the College’s Board of Trustees earlier in the year. Associate Professor of Philosophy, James Butler; Associate Professor Beth Crachiolo, Department of English; Associate Professor of Art, Lisa Kriner; Meta Mendel-Reyes, Associate Professor of General Studies and Director of Service Learning; Assistant Professor of Economics, Scott Steele; and Dr. Linda Strong-Leek, Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and General Studies.

The Board also approved promotions for several faculty members. Promoted to the rank of Associate Professor were: Beth Crachiolo, English; Lisa Kriner, Art; Matthew Saderholm, Chemistry; and Caryn Vazzana, Economics. Promoted to the rank of Professor were: Martie Kazura, who has been a member of the Economics and Business Department since 1991, and Marguerite Rivage-Seul of the Women’s Studies Department, who joined Berea in 1987.

Three faculty members have been named to endowed chairs. Professor Patricia Isaacs is the new W. George Matton Chair in Business; Professor Keila Thomas was named to the Julia Parmly Billings chair in Child and Family Studies, and Biology Professor Ralph Thompson was appointed to the Charles F. Kettering Chair in Science.