Christian A. Johnson Professor Excellence in Teaching Professor of Sociology Dan Chambliss has been appointed to fill an unexpired term as a member of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education through December 31. He will also be standing for election to a full term which would run until December 31, 2005. Chambliss was nominated by Hamilton College President Eugene M. Tobin.
The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA), established in 1887, is a nonprofit, membership association dedicated to educational improvement through evaluation and accreditation.The Middle States Commission on Higher Education consists of 24 members who are elected by the colleges and universities that are members of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. The president of the Board of Trustees of the Middle States Association is ex officio one of the 24 members of the Commission. These members are all volunteers, and they are responsible for making decisions on the accreditation of institutions and for formulating Commission policies.
A member of the Hamilton faculty since 1981, Chambliss earned a master's and Ph.D. from Yale University. His research interests are formal organizations, social psychology and ethical problems in healthcare as they relate to nursing. His 1996 book, Beyond Caring: Hospitals, Nurses and the Social Organization of Ethics, won the Eliot Freidson Prize in 1998 for the best book in the preceding two years in medical sociology from the American Sociological Association. He is also the winner of the ASA's Theory Prize for his work on organizational excellence. Chambliss is also the author of Champions: The Making of Olympic Swimmers, which was named the 1991 Book of the Year by the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Chambliss recently completed a four-day tour as the Harry Lyman Hooker Distinguished Visiting Professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario; his duties included delivering a series of public lectures on topics including organizational performance, ethics in health care, and sociological careers; and meeting with a variety of faculty and student groups.
