Williams Promotes Seven to Full Professor04:00PM / Monday, August 10, 2009
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Seven Williams professors have been promoted to the rank of full professor: Daniel P. Aalberts, physics; Ronadh Cox, geosciences; William C. Dudley, philosophy; Antonia E. Foias, anthropology; Kathryn R. Kent, English; Robert M. Savage, biology; and Kenneth K. Savitsky, psychology.
Daniel P. Aalberts
Aalberts' research focuses on the physics of biological polymers, which he studies using statistical and computational methods. He has received grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation for his work on RNA, single-stranded nucleic acids that play a variety of roles, including supplying cells with the information needed to build pro-teins and catalyze key chemical reactions. His work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals, including Bioinformatics, Nucleic Acids Research, and Physical Review E. He teaches "Computational Biology," "Statistical Physics," and "Mathematical Methods for Scientists," among other courses. Aalberts received his S.B. in 1989 and his Ph.D. in 1994 from M.I.T.
Ronadh Cox
Cox's research interests include sedimentology, sedimentary petrology, geochronology and impacts into planetary surfaces. She has taught courses on oceanography, geochemistry, planetary geology and coral reefs, among other subjects. Her work has been published in the Journal of Geology, Geological Society of America Bulletin, Geology, and others. Cox received her B.Sc. from University College Dublin, Ireland in 1985 and her Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1993.
William C. Dudley
Dudley specializes in 18th- and 19th-century European philosophy. His most recent book, "Understanding German Idealism," is a study of the philosophical movement that spanned the careers of Kant and Hegel. He is also the author of "Hegel, Nietzsche, and Philosophy: Thinking Freedom" (2002) and articles published in The Review of Metaphysics, The Owl of Minerva, International Studies in Philosophy, and Canadian Philosophical Review, among others. Courses he has taught include "The Philosophy and Economics of Higher Education," "Big Games: The Spiritual Significance of Sports," and "Truth and Rationality." Dudley received his B.A. from Williams in 1989 and his Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 1998.
Antonia E. Foias
Foias' research focuses on the political and economic organization of Mayan civilization at Motul de San Jose, Peten, Guatemala. She has received grants from the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies and the National Science Foundation. She has been published in journals including Mayab and Ancient Mesoamerica. She teaches courses in Mesoamerican anthropology, ancient civilizations and human evolution. Foias received her B.A. from Harvard University in 1987 and her Ph.D. in anthropology from Vanderbilt in 1996.
Kathryn R. Kent
Kent's research interests center on U.S. fiction and poetry, literary theory, cultural studies, women's studies, and gay/lesbian/bi/transgender/queer studies. Kent was a fellow at the Oakley Center for the Humanities and Social Sciences this spring, where she worked on two projects, "Tracing Desire: Queer Readings in Modern U.S. Women's Fiction" and "The Visual Record? Girl Scouting, Sexuality and Gender in 'Found' Photographs and Scrapbooks, 1920-1970." She is the author of "Making Girls into Women: American Women's Writing and the Rise of Lesbian Identity" (2003). She teaches courses on gender and sexuality, American Renaissance literature, queer fictions and other subjects. Kent received her B.A. from Williams in 1988 and her Ph.D. in English from Duke University in 1996.
Robert M. Savage
Savage specializes in cellular aspects of animal development and the evolution of segmental pattern formation in metazoans. He is the recipient of four grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation, most recently a three-year, $214,990 NIH grant for his work on segmental pattern formation in annelids (the segmented worm family). He has been published in journals including Integrative and Comparative Biology, Developmental Genes and Evolution, and Developmental Biology. At Williams he teaches courses on intro-ductory biology, developmental biology, and the evolution of animal design, among others. He received his A.B. from Bowdoin College in 1987 and his Ph.D. in biology from Wesleyan University in 1993.
Kenneth K. Savitsky
Savitsky's research focuses on the social psychology of the every day: egocentrism in social judgment and self-appraisal, counterfactual thinking, health-related decision making, and the psychology of superstition and belief in the paranormal. He has been published in such journals as Psychological Science, the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. At Williams he teaches courses including "The Self and Social Judgment," "The Psychology of Self-Esteem," "Social Psychology," and "Evolutionary Psychology." Savitsky received his B.A. from Indiana University in 1993 and his Ph.D. in social and personality psychology from Cornell University in 1997. |
