Four accomplished faculty members recently were appointed to endowed professorships that will support their scholarly pursuits and professional growth.
These appointments, which provide compensation and other support, reflect the exceptional contributions that these faculty members have made to their fields and the College.
"It is a pleasure to be able to announce these new appointments,” Provost Jeff Bowman said. “This remarkable group of scholars and teachers has already contributed much to Kenyon, and they have exciting plans for the future. It is great to be able to celebrate and support their outstanding work."
The following faculty members became new holders of endowed positions beginning on July 1.
Pamela G. Hollie Chair in Global Challenges
Irene López, professor of psychology
Irene López, who joined the College in 2007, is trained as a clinical psychologist and specializes in cross-cultural psychopathology, minority women’s mental health and socioeconomic status. She has worked to expand global learning opportunities for students, helping to lead Kenyon programs in Rome and Copenhagen, and she served in 2020 as a Fulbright Scholar in Hungary, where she lectured on the psychology of immigration.
A founder of Kenyon’s Latine studies concentration, López has been honored with the College’s Trustee Teaching Excellence Award in 2015 and, through a division of the American Psychological Association, the Henry David International Mentoring Award in 2016. She is the co-editor of a 2022 text on global learning, titled “The Wiley Handbook of Collaborative Online Learning and Intercultural Engagement,” and the upcoming “Cambridge Handbook of Latine Psychology.” López received a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College and a master’s degree and doctorate from Kent State University, all in psychology.
The Pamela G. Hollie Chair in Global Challenges supports faculty whose teaching and research programs engage with global problems such as climate change, public health in a global context, borders and immigration, food security and access to justice. It was established in 2020 by D. Matthew Voorhees ’95 to honor the global experience and wide-ranging commitments to civil society of Pamela G. Hollie.
Peter Rutkoff Professorship in Diversity and Inclusion
Jené Schoenfeld P’29, associate professor of English and creative writing
Jené Schoenfeld, who joined Kenyon in 2008, teaches courses in American literature, particularly writers of African descent. Her teaching and research are fueled by a curiosity about social boundaries, especially the American color line. She specializes in representations of the mulatto in American fiction and culture.
Her most recent publication, “Blood and Choice: How the ‘Tragic Mulatto’ Becomes the ‘New Negro’ in Frances Harper's ‘Iola Leroy’” appears in “The Oxford Handbook of African American Women's Writing.” She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree and doctorate from Duke University, all in English.
The Peter Rutkoff Professorship in Diversity and Inclusion was established in 2015 by alumni, parents and friends of the College to honor Professor Emeritus of American Studies Peter Rutkoff H’21. It honors a faculty member who has made significant contributions to diversity at Kenyon and who will lead faculty efforts in programming and support for diversity initiatives at the College.
Philip and Sheila Jordan Professorship in Environmental Science
Ruth Heindel, associate professor of environmental studies
Ruth Heindel, who joined the College in 2020, is an interdisciplinary biogeochemist and has conducted field research in Greenland, the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, the Colorado Front Range, and locally in central Ohio. Her field-based approach combines methods from ecology, geomorphology and geochemistry to answer questions about the impact of changing climate and land use on sensitive alpine and polar ecosystems. Locally, her research focuses on the atmospheric deposition of nutrients and particulate matter to Ohio ecosystems.
Heindel teaches courses on earth systems science, climate change and environmental field methods, and frequently incorporates her local field research into her courses. She has a bachelor’s degree in geological sciences from Brown University and a doctorate in earth sciences from Dartmouth College.
The Philip and Sheila Jordan Professorship in Environmental Science was established in 1994 by Dr. and Mrs. Andrew Thomson, parents of David A. Thomson ’76, and the Beatrice Delany Charitable Trust in honor of former College president Philip Jordan Jr. GP’28 H’95 and his spouse, Sheila Jordan GP'28 H'95, and in recognition of the Jordans' interest in environmental issues.
Dorothy and Thomas Jegla Professorship in the Natural Sciences
Lauren Schmitt, assistant professor of environmental studies
Lauren Schmitt, who joined Kenyon in 2023, focuses her research on managed ecosystems, including agroecosystems, restored forests and cities. She is especially interested in the ecology of sustainable food systems. At Kenyon, her research has focused on the succession of Kenyon Green Center ecosystems, pest control at the Kenyon Farm and other local farms, and how local management and landscape factors affect insect interactions in central Ohio apple orchards. Her work combines community and ecosystem ecology to look at how climate change and management decisions shape ecosystem dynamics.
Prior to Kenyon, Schmitt was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland, where she worked with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center to study how forest restoration projects develop and can maximize ecosystem function. She has a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and anthropology from the University of Notre Dame, a master’s degree in applied environmental science from University College Dublin, and a doctorate in environment and sustainability from the University of Michigan.
The Dorothy and Thomas Jegla Endowed Professorship in the Natural Sciences was established in 2018 by Diane Elam ’80 and Nancy Donohue in honor of Dorothy E. Jegla P’89 H’97 and Thomas Jegla P’89 H’97. It supports a junior faculty member in a tenure track position in the natural sciences.