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), and Matthew Richey (Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science).
Current Chair:
Dana Gross, Professor of Psychology, is also affiliated with Family Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Linguistic Studies, and Nordic Studies, and teaches courses that contribute to those programs. In teaching, research, and scholarship, Dana is fascinated by the interplay of nature and nurture, cross-cultural variations in beliefs and practices, practical applications of research findings, and policy considerations.
With FaCE grants from the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, she has co-organized faculty workshops, most recently (2018-19), Making the Most of Immersion: Engaging Faculty to Maximize the Impact of Off-Campus Experiential Learning.
She is author of Infancy: Development from Birth to Age 3 (3/e, Rowman & Littlefield, 2018) and contributing author and co-editor of Internationalizing the Undergraduate Psychology Curriculum: Practical Lessons Learned at Home and Abroad (APA Books, 2016). She has led January-term courses for undergraduates in India and China and is co-author and co-editor of Faculty as Global Learners: Off-Campus Study at Liberal Arts Colleges (Lever Press, 2020).