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On Wednesday, September 18, Sarah Lawrence celebrated new faculty chair appointments and this year’s recipient of the Lipkin Family Prize for Inspirational Teaching. “Tonight we are basking in the reflected glory of our incredible faculty,” said President Cristle Collins Judd. “We’re with the best of the best here, and it is an honor to recognize their excellence and extraordinary contributions to the College.”
“One of the most rewarding aspects of serving on the Advisory Committee is to think through all the wonderful contributions our colleagues have made,” added Provost and Dean of Faculty Kanwal Singh. “Selecting the chairs is not easy. Our faculty are doing amazing scholarly, artistic, and classroom work. They contribute to Sarah Lawrence’s vitality and vibrancy in many ways.”
This year’s recipient of the 2024 Lipkin Family Prize for Inspirational Teaching is Matthew Ellis (History). The annual award recognizes a teacher—selected by the president and the Advisory Committee on Faculty Appointments with input from faculty—whose generosity of time and talent draws from students both high performance and a lifelong love of learning.
This year’s new faculty chairs, as selected by the Advisory Committee on Appointments, are:
Una Chung (Literature)
The Joseph Campbell Chair in the Humanities
This endowed chair was established in 1986 by grateful students of Joseph Campbell, leading mythologist and former member of the literature faculty. Appointments to the chair are made on a rotating basis in any of several disciplines: philosophy, religion, psychology, creative arts, anthropology, history, or literature. It is the intention that the chair be held by scholars whose areas of specialization would broaden, enrich, and make more diverse our curriculum: the peoples and cultures of Africa, Asia, Native America, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Drew E. Cressman (Biology)
The Sara Yates Exley Chair in Teaching Excellence
Established in 1995 by Sara Yates Exley ’52. The goal of this endowed rotating chair is to recognize and affirm distinguished teaching.
Carolyn Ferrell (Writing)
Ellen Kingsley Hirschfeld Chair in Writing
This rotating chair was endowed by Trustee Nancie H. Cooper MFA ’04 and her husband Stephen Cooper to honor the memory of Nancie’s friend and award-winning journalist Ellen Kingsley Hirschfeld ’73. It will allow Sarah Lawrence to recruit and retain outstanding scholars and teachers in the field of creative writing.
Melissa Frazier (Russian, Literature)
The Ilja Wachs Chair in Outstanding Teaching and Donning
Established in 1998 by the donnees, students, and friends of Ilja Wachs. The chair will be awarded to an outstanding teacher and don—in any discipline in the College—whose generosity of time and talent can draw forth from a wide variety of students a high performance and a lifelong love of learning. He or she should be an intellectual who is passionate about ideas and believes in his or her power to change people’s lives.
Heather Harpham (Writing)
The Strachan Donnelley Endowed Visiting Professorship in Environmental Writing
Established by the Donnelley Family in 2014, the fund supports a rotating guest professorship position. It allows the College to invite high profile writers, thought leaders, and experts on a broad range of environmental issues to teach at the College.
Brian Morton (Writing)
The Michele Tolela Myers Chair in Writing
Created in 2007, this endowed chair honors Michele Tolela Myers, president of Sarah Lawrence College from 1998 to 2007, to support and encourage writers who teach at Sarah Lawrence College.
The Harlequin Adair Dammann Chair in Islamic Studies
An endowed chair established in memory of Harlequin Adair Dammann ’72 by her mother, Harle G. Montgomery, to enhance the College’s global studies approach to teaching. This chair will address Islam through a variety of disciplines, including literature, philosophy, and the Islamic law.