Three Faculty Members Recently Appointed to Endowed Professorships
With the retirement of Peter Collings, Steve Maurer '67, and Michael Cothren respectively, three professors were named to endowed professorships. The news was announced at a faculty meeting on Friday.
Michael Brown was appointed to the Morris L. Clothier Professorship in Physics, which was established in 1905 by Morris L. Clothier, Class of 1890. A professor of physics, Brown counts among his research interests magneto-inertial fusion (MIF), plasma physics, experimental physics (SSX), plasma turbulence, magnetic reconnection, solar physics, and fusion. At Swarthmore, he won the 2008 American Physical Society Award for Research at an Undergraduate Institution and has supervised research experiences for more than 65 students.
Lisa Meeden was appointed to the Neil R. Grabois ’57 Professorship in Natural Sciences & Engineering, which was established in 2010 by Eugene M. Lang ’38 to honor Neil Grabois, mathematician and educator. A computer science professor and expert in adaptive robotics and artificial intelligence, Meeden is a leader in machine learning techniques such as artificial neural networks and evolutionary computation as well as developmental robotics, which draws from psychology and neuroscience. She is the recipient of two National Science Foundation grants, the author or co-author of more than 21 papers, and the co-recipient of the National Engineering Education Delivery Systems 2005 Premier Award for Excellence in Engineering Education Courseware.
William Turpin was appointed the Scheuer Family Chair of Humanities, which was created in 1987 through the gifts of James H. Scheuer ’42; Walter and Marge Pearlman Scheuer ’48; and their children, Laura Lee ’73, Elizabeth Helen ’75, Jeffrey ’75, and Susan ’78, and joined by a challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. A professor of classics, Turpin specializes in Roman history, especially through the lens of studying the work of the historian Tacitus and the poet Horace. In addition to his work with Swarthmore students, he has also run a longtime free summer open online course in medieval Latin for participants around the globe.
