FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cindy Deppe, media relations, 641-269-4834

May 8, 2008

PROMOTIONS FOR FACULTY MEMBERS AT GRINNELL COLLEGE

GRINNELL, IA--The Grinnell College Board of Trustees recently approved the promotion of faculty members to new ranks for the 2008-09 academic year:

· Promoted to full professor: Jonathan (Jackie) Brown, biology; Leslie Gregg-Jolly, biology; Jean Smiley Ketter, education; and Tyler Roberts, religious studies. Background information about the full professors is attached.

· Promoted to associate professor with tenure: Raquel Greene, Russian; Vida Praitis, biology; Nancy Rempel-Clower, psychology; and Maria Tapias, anthropology. Background information about these newly tenured faculty members is attached.

· Moving from active teaching to senior faculty status: Elizabeth Dobbs, English; Daniel Kaiser, history; Saadi Simawe, English; and Ira Strauber, political science.

· Moving from senior faculty status to professor emeritus: Eugene Herman, mathematics and statistics; Harold Kasimow, religious studies; and Elliott Uhlenhopp, chemistry.

Grinnell College is a nationally recognized, private, four year, liberal arts college located in Grinnell, Iowa. Founded in 1846, Grinnell enrolls 1,600 students from all 50 states and from as many international countries in more than 25 major fields, interdisciplinary concentrations, and pre-professional programs.

Background information:

Jonathan Brown, promoted to professor of biology, joined the Grinnell faculty in 1995. He completed the Ph.D. at Michigan State University with an interdepartmental specialization in ecology and evolution, and postdoctoral fellowships at Cornell University and Bucknell University. At Grinnell, Brown has developed courses in evolutionary biology, served as director of the Conard Environmental Research Area, chair of the Department of Biology, and on the advisory board for the Center for Prairie Studies. He is also active in the Society for the Study of Evolution and is currently an associate editor of the Society’s journal, “Evolution.” He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals on his research concerning Mechanisms of species formation in insects.

Leslie Gregg-Jolly, promoted to professor of biology, joined the Grinnell faculty in 1993, after completion of a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Arizona. An undergraduate of Vassar College where she majored in biochemistry, Gregg-Jolly earned M.S., M.Ph., and Ph.D. degrees in biology from Yale University. She is highly regarded in her field of molecular biology, where reviewers have commented that her research is remarkable, with much promise for understanding mechanisms involved in DNA repair. Gregg-Jolly has contributed to the development of the biological chemistry major, three major and successful Howard Hughes Medical Institute proposals, and the Grinnell Science Project. In July she will begin a three-year term as associate dean of the college.

Raquel Greene, promoted to associate professor of Russian, joined the Grinnell faculty in 1998 as a dissertation fellow. She completed her Ph.D. in 1999 at The Ohio State University. She has taught at all levels of the Department of Russian curriculum and is especially well known as a scholar of the interplay of race, ethnicity, and culture. She actively publishes in the fields of language pedagogy, Russian literature and culture, and children’s literature. Greene has been engaged in improving diversity in student recruitment and in the teaching of Russian nationwide.

Jean Smiley Ketter, promoted to professor of education, joined the Grinnell faculty in 1994. She earned the Ph.D. at the University of Kansas. Ketter initiated and helped organize the recent Rosenfield Symposium on “No Child Left Behind” and served on a task force appointed by the National Council of Teachers of English to critique the design and use of SAT and ACT writing tests. Her published scholarly research, including peer-reviewed journal articles and contributions of chapters in books, has focused on promoting critical multicultural approaches to teaching literature in rural classrooms, writing instruction, and the ethics of high stakes writing assessment.

Vida Praitis, promoted to associate professor of biology, joined the Grinnell faculty in 2001, after completing the Ph.D. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago in molecular genetics and cellular biology. Praitis uses the tools of genetics, molecular biology, and modern microscopy to study animal development. She is chair of the biological chemistry major committee and co-chair of the Health Professions Advisory Committee. She serves as president of Grinnell’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter and co-directed the Grinnell Science Project.

Nancy Rempel-Clower, promoted to associate professor of psychology, joined the Grinnell faculty in 1999 as a postdoctoral fellow, following completion of the Ph.D. at the University of California-San Diego and a postdoctoral appointment at Boston University. She was subsequently appointed as Assistant Professor, and was instrumental in the establishment of the college’s neuroscience concentration. Rempel-Clower is internationally recognized for her work investigating the brain basis of emotion. She is principal investigator on a successful National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation grant for a quantitative microscopy workstation to aid in anatomical work.

Tyler Roberts, promoted to professor of religious studies, joined the Grinnell faculty in 1998. He earned the Th.D. at Harvard University, and spent three years as director of undergraduate education and lecturer for the Committee on the Study of Religion of Harvard University. Roberts’s students respect him as a rigorous, self-critical, and demanding teacher who is able to challenge them to bring forth their best work. His current scholarship examines how contemporary religious thought challenges influential theories of religion. Outside reviewers point to Roberts’s exceptional sophistication as a scholar, noting the respect of the intellectual community for his work’s integrity and ‘crystal-clear’ presentation. At Grinnell, Roberts has served as chair of the Division of Humanities and on the college’s Executive Council.

Maria Tapias, promoted to associate professor of anthropology, joined the Grinnell faculty in 2001. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, she completed her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, specializing in medical anthropology. Her scholarly work is based on examining emotions, embodiment, and health in Bolivia and has recently expanded to study Bolivian migrants in Spain. Tapias serves as chair of the Latin American Studies Concentration Committee and is a member of the Health Professions Advisory Committee and the ad hoc committee on increased awareness of disabilities on campus.

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