SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Wofford College’s Board of Trustees approved tenure for five faculty members, and voted to promote two to associate professor and five to full professor at its May 2019 meeting.

As one of the tenure recipients, Dr. Courtney Dorroll, assistant professor of religion and Middle Eastern and North African studies, says she is “thrilled” and “living the dream: teaching brilliant students, researching topics related to the scholarship of teaching and learning and daily walks on a beautiful campus. … Having tenure allows me to think long term about life and research at Wofford – a position I am grateful to be in.”

Tenure recipients:

  • Heidi Bostic – assistant professor of chemistry
  • Peter Brewitt – assistant professor of environmental studies
  • Courtney Dorroll – assistant professor of religion
  • Amanda Matousek – assistant professor of modern languages, literatures and cultures
  • Brian Pigott – assistant professor of mathematics

“I am extremely proud of Wofford College’s recently tenured colleagues,” says Dr. Mike J. Sosulski, provost. “They have each earned this distinction through a combination of excellence in teaching and advising, first rate scholarship and distinctive service to the institution.”

The tenure recipients offer a diverse range of fields from teaching Islam in 21st-century America to the complexities of non-linear dispersive partial differential equations and the politics and cultural concerns surrounding dam removal in the Pacific Northwest. “Each one is making a profound difference in students’ lives while making significant contributions to knowledge in their fields,” says Sosulski.

Promoted to associate professor:

  • Britton Newman – associate professor of modern languages, literatures and cultures
  • Katherine Steinmetz – associate professor of psychology

Promoted to full professor:

  • Lillian Gonzalez – professor of accounting, business and finance
  • Katherine Janiec Jones – professor and associate provost for curriculum and co-curriculum and religion
  • Li Qing Kinnison – professor of Chinese studies and modern languages, literatures and cultures
  • Kaye Savage – professor and chair of environmental studies
  • Catherine Schmitz – professor of modern languages, literatures and cultures

“Our colleagues who have recently earned promotion have demonstrated significant leadership among their faculty peers in one or more of the principal areas of faculty responsibility —teaching, scholarship and service,” says Sosulski. “Their strong leadership and dedication to Wofford College, and in particular to the success of Wofford students, has impacted everything we do, from general education to departmental curricula, in profound and lasting ways.”