A Magnet for the Best Scholar-Educators
Endowed professorships enhance the educational experience for Muhlenberg students by providing financial support to exceptional faculty.
Professor Linda McGuire’s position as the endowed Truman L. Koehler ’24 Professor in Mathematics allows her to focus on her current interests—how feminist and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) related theories can inform practice in mathematics and STEM—in a way she couldn’t otherwise. Endowed professorships support exploration, curiosity and growth as a scholar and educator. They also have ripple effects that go well beyond the benefits afforded to the faculty member who holds the position.
“The Koehler professorship grants me time to read, research and gather materials for department faculty to analyze and discuss,” McGuire says. “This allows all of us to engage with current conversations and thinking about DEI issues and bring what ideas and initiatives would best fit Muhlenberg to our classrooms and research spaces.”
The Koehler professorship is one of Muhlenberg’s six endowed professorships, which recognize faculty for exceptional teaching, mentoring and scholarship and provide financial support toward continued excellence. Endowed professorships also impact the academic standing of the institution: “[Having these positions] shows that friends and alumni of the College have confidence in the institution, that their experiences at Muhlenberg were so meaningful that they would like to make a contribution that gives others the same opportunity into perpetuity,” says Provost Laura Furge. “It also increases the national reputation of the faculty who hold those endowed positions. It gives us the opportunity to make connections that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to make because our professors may get more recognition that allows them to deepen and widen their networks.”
These positions are integral in recruiting and retaining talented, highly-sought faculty, Furge says. When a prospective faculty member is considering multiple institutions, being able to offer them an endowed professorship can make the difference in their decision. The existence of an endowed position in their discipline, even if it’s currently filled, speaks to the College’s investment in and commitment to the faculty. When senior professors already at Muhlenberg are granted an endowed professorship, as McGuire was last fall, it serves as an enormous vote of confidence.
Professor of Biology, Director of Sustainability Studies and Rita and Joseph B. Scheller Chair Rich Niesenbaum started at Muhlenberg in 1993 and moved into the endowed position in 2016, upon becoming director of the RJ Fellows honors program. The Scheller funds have supported travel related to research for two books Niesenbaum has published since then, including the textbook Sustainable Solutions: Problem Solving for Current and Future Generations. The continued support has allowed him to travel to three countries so far to interview effective sustainable changemakers around the world for his next book project.
“The more active the faculty member is in their field, the more students benefit from their mentoring,” Furge says.
“Faculty continually build their expertise as scholars and innovative teachers long after they finish their terminal degree. Having endowed professorships really allows us to recognize the outstanding work from our faculty as they continue to innovate and look for ways to provide meaningful experiences for multiple generations of students.”
—Provost Laura Furge
One student who has benefited from Niesenbaum’s is Claire Pancoast ’22. The psychology and sustainability studies double major and RJ Fellow is continuing research on the sustainability of feminine hygiene products that she began over the summer.
“When I decided to do [summer research], I went to [Niesenbaum] and said, ‘I want to do this, but I don’t know what I want to do.’ He was very helpful with talking through it,” she says. “I don’t think I would have come up with a topic had it not been for our discussion.”
It was a topic Pancoast says she hadn’t put much thought into previously despite her awareness of the harms of single-use plastics. Niesenbaum was able to lead her in that direction because of his broad understanding of timely topics in sustainability.
“Faculty continually build their expertise as scholars and innovative teachers long after they finish their terminal degree,” Furge says. “Having endowed professorships really allows us to recognize the outstanding work from our faculty as they continue to innovate and look for ways to provide meaningful experiences for multiple generations of students.”