Established in 1999 by the estate of Paul Erling Hardy’37, the purpose of this endowed chair is “to enhance the understanding and appreciation of science among St. Olaf students.” A Minnesota native, Paul Hardy retired in 1969 after a career as a research chemist and petroleum engineer at the Exxon Corporation. Deeply committed to his alma mater, Dr. Hardy felt that St. Olaf represented well the values he most appreciated of free inquiry, free expression, and moral sensitivity. Chemistry professor Wesley Pearson ’54 was the first holder of this chair; he used it to help create an annual Science Symposium where St. Olaf students display the results of their research. Previous Hardy chairs include Ted Johnson (Biology), Anne Walter (Biology), Charles E. Umbanhowar Jr. (Biology and Environmental Studies), Matthew Richey (Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science), and Dana Gross (Psychology).
Current Chair:
Kim Kandl, Professor of Biology, is the Director of Biomolecular Science and teaches the following classes: Intermediate Genetics, Cell Biology Molecular Biology, First Year Writing – Genes and Genomes, and Equatorial Biology.
Her lab uses cellular and molecular genetics techniques to study questions in the eukaryotic ciliate, Tetrahymena thermophila. Students focus on one of these four areas:
The function of proteases in the SUMOylation pathway
Cellular and gene expression changes during centrifugation (the “Dizzy” Tetrahymena project)
ABC transporters
Lipid droplets (collaboration with Listenberger lab)