Faculty News

Long-time Hamilton College philosophy professor and former head men's golf coach Bob Simon and his wife Joy received honorary Hamilton athletic department watches at the 2014 Jack B. Riffle Dinner for Senior Varsity Athletes. The awards were presented by Director of Athletics Jon Hind '80 to the Simons for their four decades of devotion to the College's intercollegiate programs.

Professor of Philosophy Marianne Janack  was an invited speaker at a symposium on Philosophy as a Transitional Genre hosted by the Stony Brook University Philosophy Department from May 1-3.

De Bao Xu, the Leonard C. Ferguson Professor and chair of East Asian Languages and Literatures, received a special grant from the Hakka Foundation for his endeavors with the Journal of Technology and Chinese Language Teaching (JTCLT) and the International Conference and Workshops on Technology and Chinese Language Teaching in the 21st Century (TCLT).

Lauralyn Kolb, lecturer in voice, will be interviewed Saturday, May 17, on Vocal Point. Hosted by Jon English, the program will air at 12:08 p.m. on WCNY-FM, and will feature some of Kolb’s recorded songs of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel.

Ernest Williams, the William R. Kenan Professor of Biology, presented “The Endangered Migration of Monarch Butterflies” on May 15 at the Cazenovia Public Library in Cazenovia, N.Y.

A History of Religion in 5 ½ Objects, authored by Visiting Associate Professor of Religious Studies S. Brent Plate, has recently been reviewed and featured prominently by several media outlets including the Library Journal, The Christian Century, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The New Republic and Marginalia Review of Books.

Lolita Buckner Inniss, the Elihu Root Peace Fund Visiting Professor of Women’s Studies, presented her initial research as a chambers (legal working group) leader for the Feminist International Judgments book project on May 8.

On May 5, 24 members of the Class of 2014 were elected to associate membership in the Hamilton College Chapter of Sigma Xi, the scientific research society.

Hamilton College’s highest awards for teaching were presented to four faculty members during the annual Class & Charter Day ceremony on May 12. Associate Professor of Russian Franklin Sciacca, Associate Professor of Music Rob Hopkins,  Assistant Professor of Chemistry Adam Van Wynsberghe and Nathan Goodale, assistant professor of anthropology, received awards. Professor of History Doug Ambrose was named recipient of Student Assembly’s Sidney Wertimer Award.

Seven Hamilton faculty members were recognized for their research and creative successes with the Dean’s Scholarly Achievement Awards, presented by Dean of Faculty Patrick Reynolds on Class & Charter Day on May 12. The awards recognize individual accomplishment but reflect a richness and depth of scholarship and creative activity across the entire faculty.