News

St. Olaf College Provost and Dean of the College Marci Sortor has announced that seven faculty members have been promoted to the rank of full professor and eight have been granted tenure and promoted to the rank of associate professor.

Promoted to Professor

• Anthony Becker (Economics Department), whose academic interests include econometrics, agricultural economics, and antitrust and economic damages, earned his bachelor’s degree from University of Maryland-College Park, and his master’s degree and Ph.D. from Duke University.
• Tina Garrett (Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Department), whose academic interests include enumerative combinatorics and computational combinatorics, earned her bachelor’s degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota. She also serves as director of the Budapest Semesters in Mathematics.
• Timothy Howe (History Department) is the associate field director of the Antiochia ad Cragum Archaeological Project in Southern Turkey and is senior editor of the Ancient History Bulletin. His areas of expertise include the archaeology of Mediterranean agriculture and trade and Alexander the Great. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Cal State, Chico, and his master’s degree and Ph.D. from Penn State.
• Diane LeBlanc (Interdisciplinary Studies Department) directs the college writing program and teaches writing and gender studies. She earned her bachelor’s degree at St. Michael’s College, her master’s degree at the University of Wyoming, and her MFA at Hamline University.
• Marc Robinson (Russian Language and Area Studies Department) specializes in Russian literature, film, and theater. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and his master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.
• Nancy Thompson (Art and Art History Department), whose academic interests include medieval art in Europe and stained glass, is a member of the program committee of the International Center for Medieval Art at the Cloisters. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Southern Methodist University and her master’s degree and Ph.D. from Indiana University Bloomington.
• Mary Trull (English Department) is a specialist in Renaissance/Early Modern English literature with interests in women writers and the history of science. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College and her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

Granted Tenure and Promoted to Associate Professor

• Arthur Cunningham (Philosophy Department) has research interests in the philosophy of physics and in the metaphysics of free will. He earned his bachelor’s degrees from the University of Notre Dame, and his master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.
• Michael Fuerstein (Philosophy Department), whose academic interests include social/political philosophy and social epistemology, earned a bachelor of music degree at the New England Conservatory of Music, as well as a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Columbia University.
• Ryota Matsuura (Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Department), whose mathematics education interests include mathematical habits of mind, preparation of pre-service teachers, and professional development for in-service teachers, serves as the Director of the Budapest Semester in Mathematics for Educators program. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his master’s degree from Boston University School of Education, and his Ph.D. from Boston University.
• Danny Muñoz-Hutchinson (Philosophy Department) specializes in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy and is also interested in the philosophy of mind and the history of the mind-body problem. He earned his bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s College of California and his master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
• Jon Naito (English Department), whose fields of interest include postcolonial literature and theory, twentieth-century British and Irish literature, and race and ethnic studies, earned his bachelor’s degree from Reed College and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.
• Jason Ripley (Religion Department), whose research focuses on the Gospel of John and how it negotiates Roman imperial pressures, earned his bachelor’s degree from Gustavus Adolphus College, his master’s degree from Bethel Theological Seminary, and his Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary.
• Susie Smalling ’97 (Social Work and Family Studies Department), whose research interests include American Indians and social work education, LGBT issues, and anti-oppressive social work practice, earned her bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College, her master’s degree at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, and her Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University.
• Ka Wong (Asian Studies Department), whose research interests explore the symbiotic ties and tensions between individual identity and cultural discourse, is director of the Chinese program.  He earned master’s degrees from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand and the University of Hawaii, as well as a Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii.