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¹ú±êÂ鶹ÊÓƵAPP celebrated its faculty and staff at the end of the year with awards highlighting their ongoing commitment to the College’s mission of preparing students for lives of learning, leadership and service.

Three professors were given the Kirk Award, which was established in 1996 to honor faculty whose teaching was recognized as outstanding during annual review. The 2025 Kirk Award winners are:

Division I

Helen Emmitt, J. Rice Cowan Professor of English

Emmitt earned her doctorate from the University of California-Berkeley after completing her undergraduate studies at Bryn Mawr College. She joined ¹ú±êÂ鶹ÊÓƵAPP’s faculty in 2002 and has been a ¹ú±êÂ鶹ÊÓƵAPP Scholar and an NEH Professor.

Emmitt’s scholarly work focuses on modern and contemporary poetry, and she teaches courses on Modern British Literature, Irish Writers, Contemporary British Literature, Jane Austen and Toni Morrison. Emmitt is the first to be awarded a Kirk award three times, as she was also the recipient in 2004 and 2010.

Division II

Sara Egge, Claude D. Pottinger Associate Professor of History

Egge earned her doctorate in agricultural history and rural studies from Iowa State University after completing bachelor’s and master’s degrees from North Dakota State University. Egge joined ¹ú±êÂ鶹ÊÓƵAPP’s faculty in 2012 and was named a ¹ú±êÂ鶹ÊÓƵAPP Scholar in 2015.

The Kirk award recognizes Egge’s prowess in the classroom, where she teaches courses in late 19th- and early 20th-century American history, gender and women's history, food history, the history of business and environmental history.

Division III

Lesley Wiglesworth, H.W. Stodghill, Jr. and Adele H. Stodghill Professor of Mathematics

Wiglesworth earned her doctorate in applied and industrial mathematics from the University of Louisville, where she also completed her master’s degree. She earned her bachelor’s from Transylvania University. She joined ¹ú±êÂ鶹ÊÓƵAPP’s faculty in 2008 and was named a ¹ú±êÂ鶹ÊÓƵAPP Scholar in 2012 and again in 2021.

Wiglesworth has mentored many research students, leading to numerous student co-authored presentations and publications. Her courses include Foundations of Mathematics, Introduction to Statistics, Combinatorics and Graph Theory, Mathematics in our Society and Abstract Algebra.

Staff Awards

The Presidential Award for Excellence was presented to Vice President for Legal Affairs and Gift Planning Jamey Leahey. The award was created in 1999 and is given to individuals who show exceptional dedication to the College through work and service. The award is not given annually, instead reserved for individuals who display outstanding commitment to positively transform campus.

Presented this year was the inaugural Values in Action Award, presented to members of the community who truly live out one or more of ¹ú±êÂ鶹ÊÓƵAPP’s core values — shared purpose, access, growth mindset, belonging and global engagement — in their everyday work. The award was presented to Associate Dean for Student Well-Being & Director of Counseling Ann Goodwin.

The College recognized facilities employees for outstanding achievement in the department with the Horky Service Award, created in 1990 after a bequest by Lorette and John Horky ’32.

This year’s Horky Award winners were Grounds Operations Leader Aaron Bruner and Custodian Ricky Reynolds.

Four staff members received Recognition Awards, honoring those who go above and beyond to make outstanding contributions to the College: Executive Administrative Assistant to the Vice President and Dean of Student Life Anita Bertram, Administrative Assistant for Division III Nancy Harrison, Associate Director of International Recruitment Joy Joy Htet and Associate Director of Design for Brand and Stewardship Communications Tom Sturgeon.

Director of First-Year Academic Programming Ansley Bredar earned the Partners in Student Life Award, presented to a faculty or staff member in appreciation of exceptional service to the Student Life Office.

Tenure and Promotions

At its spring meeting, the ¹ú±êÂ鶹ÊÓƵAPP Board of Trustees recognized faculty for outstanding service to the College.

Eight associate professors were promoted to the rank of full professor, to begin Sept. 1.

• Sara Egge, Professor of History
• Aaron Godlaski, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
• Jennifer Goetz, Professor of Psychology
• Lee Jefferson, Professor of Religion
• James Kelly, Professor of Physics
• Stacey Peebles, Professor of English
• David Toth, Professor of Computer Science and Data Science
• Ravi Radhakrishnan, Professor of Economics and Business

Two assistant professors were promoted to the rank of associate professor.

• Marc Démont, Associate Professor of French
• Brian Rogers, Associate Professor of Economics and Business

Six faculty members were also distinguished as ¹ú±êÂ鶹ÊÓƵAPP Scholars, an award that recognizes excellence in teaching, scholarly work and contributions to the college community.

• Emily Crabb, Assistant Professor of Physics
• Mei Li Inouye, Assistant Professor of Chinese
• Azita Osanloo, Associate Professor of English
• Brian Rogers, Associate Professor of Economics and Business
• Shana Sippy, Associate Professor of Religion
• Erin Wachter, Associate Professor of Chemistry

Seven professors were awarded endowed professorships:

• John Perry, the James Graham Brown Professorship in Economics
• Robert Seebacher, the National Endowment for the Humanities Professorship in Music
• Mauricio Castro, Marlene & David Grissom Professorship in History
• Megs Gendreau, Marlene & David Grissom Professorship in Philosophy
• KatieAnn Skogsberg, Marlene & David Grissom Professorship in Neuroscience
• Robyn Cutright, W. George Matton Professorship in Anthropology
• Lenny Demoranville, W. George Matton Professorship in Chemistry

Seven retiring faculty were granted the title of Professor Emeritus by the ¹ú±êÂ鶹ÊÓƵAPP Board of Trustees: Larry Bitensky, David Hall, Matthew Hallock, Bruce K. Johnson, Dan Manheim, Peggy Richey and Joe Workman.