Office of the Dean

May 2024

Dear Colleagues,

As we come to the end of another academic year, I want to thank all of our faculty and staff for your contributions to the College. In ways too numerous to mention, your efforts continue to have impact across the College and for the University.

Over the past two years, we have welcomed more than 80 new scholars to our faculty ranks. Already, we are seeing exciting research contributions and positive impact in our classrooms. I want to offer another word for thanks to our newest colleagues who are off to a productive start.

On the topic of faculty recruitment, I would be remiss if I did not note that in addition to our regular faculty searches, we have successfully recruited two faculty through the University’s Moveable Dream Hire program. Mark Suchman, Professor of Sociology and current president of the American Bar Foundation joins us from Brown University. Erin Dunn, Professor of Sociology comes to us from Harvard University/Massachusetts General Hospital, where she launched the Dunn Lab which relocates to Purdue this summer. Both will be exceptional contributors to our research efforts. Conversations continue to identify and recruit other faculty through the Moveable Dream Hire program.

This spring, 12 of our faculty colleagues in the College were promoted. New full professors are Jamin Asay (Philosophy), Shawn Bauldry (Sociology), Kathryn Cramer Brownell (History), Matthew Conaway (Bands & Orchestras), William Gray (History), and Michael Johnston (English).

New associate professors are Risa Cromer (Anthropology), JP Messina (Philosophy), Brett Sherrick (Lamb School of Communication), Evan Westra (Philosophy), and Diana Zulli (Lamb School of Communication). Lynn Parrish (Philosophy) has been promoted to Clinical Associate Professor. You can read their professional bios here and join me in congratulating our colleagues on their accomplishments.

Our scholarly endeavors this year resulted in books published by significant publishers among them Oxford University Press (JP Messina, Molly Scudder, Christopher Yeomans), Princeton University Press (Kathryn Cramer Brownell), Cornell University Press (Christopher Ewing), Cambridge University Press (William Gray, Daniel Morris, editor), University of Illinois Press (Jennifer Freeman Marshall), and University of Michigan Press (Mollie Cohen), University of Toronto Press (Cara Kinnally). Congratulations to all of our colleagues who published their work this year.

Our research excellence includes a number of notable new research grants. Among our key funders were the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Institutes of Health – National Institute on Aging, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Russell Sage Foundation, and a number of AAU partner institutions with whom we collaborated.

I am pleased to share that Torsten Reimer, professor of Communication, has accepted the role of director of the CLA Research Academy. He will begin that assignment this summer. I encourage you to take advantage of the opportunities he will create for faculty as he continues the work of the Research Academy.

Excellence in teaching continues to be a hallmark of our College, and our streak of recognition continues with two recipients of the University’s top awards for undergraduate teaching. Professor of English Dino Felluga was a 2024 Charles B.Murphy Award recipient while Senior Lecturer in English Linda Haynes received the Excellence in Instruction Award. On a similar note, Professor of Political Science Rosalee Clawson was selected by the Graduate School as the recipient of the 2024 Provost’s Award for Outstanding Graduate Mentor. Congratulations and thank you to all three for the difference you make in the education of our students.

Our Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts program continues to experience noteworthy growth. For the 2023-24 academic year, over 3900 students on the West Lafayette campus enrolled in SCLA 101 and more than 3800 students took SCLA 102. Among those were students enrolled in special Cornerstone for Business sections that are a core component of the Daniels School of Business. This fall, we will partner with the Daniels School to host a Cornerstone for Business conference to highlight that initiative.

Also, this fall, the College will offer SCLA 101 and 102 to students at Purdue-Indianapolis. We are pleased to be a part of providing a first Purdue experience for students on that campus through these courses and the presence of the Purdue OWL in Indianapolis.

Speaking of presence, there may be no more striking sight on campus than the new Degas Gallery in Purdue Memorial Union. Now complete, it is a stunning home for our collection of 74 sculptures from alumnus Avrum Gray. The gallery will open in September. Until then, I encourage you to peek in the doors of the former Sagamore Room restaurant and to watch this video, which celebrates the importance of the arts at an institution like Purdue.

Again this spring, many of us are working in the midst of boxes, including the Dean’s Office, which will be in Wang Hall until the University Hall renovation is complete. In its place, we will greatly increase our student study space on the first floor of Beering and add a new large classroom. Renovations in Stanley Coulter and parts of Beering Hall are nearing completion and will provide greatly improved spaces for the College including some office updates, new research spaces, new graduate student hubs, and enhanced and expanded student commons areas. As part of advancing this project, six of our academic units will have significant moves this summer. It is a heavy lift, and I am grateful for your patience during this time.

This summer, we will say farewell to a group of faculty who served for decades and contributed to the College in important ways. They are: Professors Carol Cunningham-Sigman, Richard Stockton Rand, Richard K. Thomas, Mo Trout, and Sally Wallace, all from the Rueff School of Design, Art, and Performance; R. Douglas Hurt, History; and Nicholas Rauh, Languages and Cultures. Please join me in thanking our colleagues for their service to Purdue and to the College.

While sometimes our semesters seem to drag on, the years pass with greater and greater speed, it seems. As we navigate today’s complex time for higher education and for our disciplines in particular, I remain grateful to our College community for its shared dedication to teaching and research. Your dedication enables us to continue to emerge as a leader in liberal arts education and scholarship. May you enjoy a productive and reinvigorating summer.

Sincerely,

David A. Reingold

Senior Vice President for Policy Planning

Justin S. Morrill Dean of Liberal Arts