F&M Stories

As Franklin & Marshall students turn the final pages of the fall semester, it’s important to also celebrate members of the faculty and professional staff who help create an enriching academic environment. 

This semester, a total of $1,145,060 in grant opportunities was awarded to faculty across various departments, with many award announcements still pending. Faculty and staff have been recognized both nationally and globally for their contributions to a range of academic fields. 

“The grants that F&M has received since the summer  – very competitive national awards – are a testament to the quality of the College faculty and the caliber of the research they do,” said Rene Munoz, director of the office of sponsored research.

“The research impacts the students, of course, by giving them opportunities in the field and laboratory that they might not otherwise have. But it also elevates F&M’s reputation, making us better able to attract top students, attract high-quality faculty and participate in collaboration and discovery with other institutions in both the United States and internationally,” Munoz said. 

For a comprehensive list of faculty achievements from 2022 and previous years, visit the Celebrating Scholarship archive.

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Greg Adkins, the William G. and Elizabeth R. Simeral Professor of Physics, received a $50,000 grant from the National Institute of Standards for improvements to the calculation of recoil corrections to muonium hyperfine splitting.

Eve Bratman, associate professor of environmental studies, was awarded a French Institutes for Advanced Study (FIAS) fellowship for her sabbatical last year. FIAS will host her at the Université de Montpellier. Bratman will be based at the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development while she works on her book manuscript.

Marco Di Giulio, associate professor of Italian studies and Hebrew, published an article called "Killing out of Compassion: Disability, Care, and the Value of Life in the Early Decades of Israeli Statehood.”

Edward Fenlon, professor of chemistry; Davide Lionetti, assistant professor of chemistry; and Sarah Tasker, assistant professor of chemistry, received $416,743 from the National Science Foundation for the purchase of new analytical equipment (a nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy instrument).

Thomas Hull, received $225,148 from the National Science Foundation for a Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS) for a Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) proposal. His research on rigid origami is currently being supported by the NSF.

Alison Kibler, professor of American studies and women's, gender & sexuality studies, was named a Commended Scholar by the National Archives Foundation for her project on Feminist Television Activism in the 1970s.

Virginia Maksymowicz, professor emerita of sculpture, published an essay titled “The Meditative Eye” in the exhibition catalog for “Ron Mehlman at Chesterwood.” She also had a solo exhibition, “The Lightness of Bearing,” at Rowan University Art Gallery in fall 2023. 

Nicholas Montemarano, alumni professor of creative writing and belles lettres and professor of English, published three creative works: A fiction short story titled “Help & Soar” (StoryQuarterly 55, 2023); a poem titled “Lament” (America 62, November 2023); and poems titled "Plague Song" & "Plague Choreography" (Diode Poetry Journal 16:3, 2023).

Ted Pearson, associate professor of history, published a book called “The Enslaved and their Enslavers: Power, Resistance and Culture in South Carolina, 1670-1825.” 

Jeffrey Podoshen, professor of marketing, published a chapter called “Pushing the limits of the 'darkest' dark tourism: Dark tourism in the age of extremity.” Podoshen also published an article  called “‘It’s Always a Beautiful Day in the Villages:’ Management Challenges for Large-Scale Retirement Communities.”

Joshua Rottman, associate professor of psychology & scientific and philosophical studies of mind, was part of a team of faculty from universities in the United States, Canada and Europe that was awarded more than $1 million by the John Templeton Foundation to examine intellectual humility in children. Approximately $130,000 will come to F&M.

In addition, Rottman authored an article titled “Moral Righteousness Can Worsen Conflict” in Scientific American.

Firuzeh Shokooh Valle, assistant professor of sociology, published a book called “In Defense of Solidarity and Pleasure: Feminist Technopolitics from the Global South.”

Amy Singer, associate professor of sociology, received a Fulbright Scholar Award and spent a semester in Norway to work on her project titled "Norwegian Milk Banking: Valuing Altruistic Labor in an Intimate, Moral Market." Singer will study the country's network of milk banks to explore how and why the Norwegian system of milk banking is unlike all other such systems around the world. 

Stephanie Stoehr, institutional biosafety officer and teaching professor of biology, passed the Certified Biological Safety Professional (CBSP) exam.

Berwood Yost, director, Floyd Institute's Center for Opinion Research and director, Floyd Institute for Public Policy Analysis and senior adjunct research instructor of government received $323,169 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for a REACH initiative (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health) focused on enhancing hispanic health in Central Pennsylvania.

The F&M Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) team has completed the first of a six-year grant from the HHMI Inclusive Excellence 3 initiative. This grant focuses on fostering institutional change to create and sustain a more inclusive, supportive and successful introductory science and mathematics experience. In summer 2023, 26 faculty members across seven STEM departments engaged in a multi-day intensive and interactive workshop on inclusive pedagogy, active learning and backward design. Last year, faculty learned about student reasons for course withdrawal through the development and implementation of a new survey. Chemistry faculty members implemented a Summer Pre-Organic Prep course that included asynchronous faculty-prepared videos and synchronous tutor meetings. Students also collaborated on the creation of a multilingual glossary of science and math vocabulary. 

Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor

The following faculty members earned tenure and were promoted from assistant to associate professor as of July 1:

• Emily Marshall, associate professor of sociology and public health
• Jennifer Meyer, associate professor of government & public health, program chair of public health
• Ryan Trainor, associate professor of physics
• Mark Villegas, associate professor of American studies

Promotion to Full Professor

The following faculty members were granted promotion from associate to full professor as of July 1:

• Lee Franklin, professor of philosophy, interim director of the Faculty Center
• Gretchen Meyers, assistant dean for strategic initiatives & professor of classics
• Barbara Nimershiem, professor of mathematics 
• Pamela Vail, professor of dance