Dominica Chang

Tag: Dominica Chang

Faculty Members Promoted, Granted Tenure

Seven members of the Lawrence University faculty have been promoted to the rank of associate professor and eight faculty have been granted tenure appointments by the college’s Board of Trustees.

Garth Bond

Garth Bond, Dominica Chang, Scott Corry, Stefan Debbert, Adam Galambos, Doug Martin and Peter Thomas all have been granted tenure and promoted to associate professor. David Gerard, associate professor of economics, also has been granted tenure.

Bond joined the English department in 2004 after teaching at Temple University and the University of Chicago, where he earned his Ph.D. His scholarship interests include Shakespeare, Renaissance literature, poetry and drama, manuscript studies, the history of the book and film. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Trinity University.

Dominica Chang

Chang, a French department faculty member since 2007, came to Lawrence after receiving her Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, a master’s degree in French Studies at Middlebury College and bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A native of South Korea, her scholarship interests include 19th-century French studies, revolutionary studies, literary history and historiography, media studies and print culture. She was the recipient of Lawrence’s Young Teacher Award in 2010.

Scott Corry

Since joining the Lawrence mathematics department in 2007, Corry has taught numerous calculus, algebra, number theory and geometry courses while pursuing his research interests in analogies between Riemann surfaces and finite graphs. He spent part of 2009 as a visiting fellow at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge, England, and was recognized with Lawrence’s Young Teacher Award in 2011. He earned his doctoral degree at the University of Pennsylvania and his bachelor’s degree at Reed College.

Stefan Debbert

Debbert brought a background in theoretical computational chemistry with him when he joined the chemistry department in 2007. His scholarship interests in organic synthesis include research on the medicinal properties of organometallic cobalt-alkyne compounds. He was instrumental in the establishment of the biochemistry major at Lawrence in 2009.  He earned his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota.

Adam Galambos

A specialist in game theory, Galambos came to Lawrence in 2006 as a member of the college’s Post-doctoral Fellows program. He was offered a tenure track position in the economics department following his initial two-year appointment. Prior to Lawrence, Galambos spent two years teaching in the MBA program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He played a leading role in launching Lawrence’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship program. A native of Hungary, he earned his bachelor’s degree at Northern Iowa University and his master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Minnesota.

Doug Martin

Martin joined the physics department in 2007, where he teaches courses in optics, quantum mechanics and experimental physics, among others. A biophysicist, his scholarly interests focus on the mechanics and dynamics of cellular processes — transport, motility, division and signaling — that explain how life works. Originally from Denver, Colo., he earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in mathematics and physics at Pomona College and completed his Ph.D. in physics at the University of Texas.

Peter Thomas

Thomas joined Lawrence’s Russian Studies department in 2006 after teaching at St. Olaf College. Beyond teaching Russian, Thomas also leads classes in 20th-century Russian literature, especially the works of Valdimir Nabokov. Additionally, his scholarly interests include Russian poetry, translation and contemporary composers. He attended Northwestern University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in comparative literature and his master’s and doctoral degrees in Russian literature.

David Gerard

A specialist in risk regulation and public policy, Gerard joined the Lawrence economics department in 2009 after eight years at Carnegie Mellon University, where he was the executive director of the Center for the Study & Improvement of Regulation. He has helped develop a pair of interactive websites that allow users to explore various dimensions of fatality risks — TrafficSTATS and Death Risk Rankings. Named a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Scholar in 2010, that same year he was appointed to a National Academy of Sciences panel that was investigating unintended acceleration in vehicles.  He earned his bachelor’s degree at Grinnell College and his master’s and Ph.D. at the University of Illinois.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries. Follow Lawrence on Facebook.

 

Four Faculty Honored for Excellence at Commencement

Four members of the Lawrence University faculty were recognized for teaching excellence, scholarship and creative activity Sunday, June 13 during the college’s 161st commencement.

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David Becker

David Becker, professor of music and director of orchestral studies, received Lawrence’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, which recognizes outstanding performance in the teaching process, including the quest to ensure students reach their full development as individuals, human beings and future leaders of society.

Becker returned to the Lawrence conservatory in 2005 as director of orchestral studies after serving in the same capacity for four years early in his career in the mid-1970s. In between he held teaching positions at Oberlin College, the University of Miami and UW-Madison, where he spent 21 years as director of orchestras and professor of the graduate orchestral conducting program.

In presenting Becker his award, Lawrence President Jill Beck praised his “great skill as a master teacher.”

“Your marvelous direction of the Lawrence University Symphony Orchestra, your work with student productions such as opera and your involvement in every aspect of musical performance have had a profound effect on students, faculty and staff and the countless members of the community who have been present for the inspiring music events performed under your guidance,” said Beck. “Anyone who has attended a Lawrence Symphony Orchestra performance can sense the pride of the students and the love and respect they feel for you.”

A native of Pennsylvania, Becker earned a bachelor of music degree in viola performance and music education at Ithaca College School of Music and a master of music degree in viola performance and conducting from the University of Louisville School of Music.

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Jerald Podair

Jerald Podair, professor of history and Robert S. French Professor of American Studies, received the Award for Excellence in Scholarship, which honors a faculty member who has demonstrated sustained scholarly excellence for a number of years and whose work exemplifies the ideals of the teacher-scholar.

A specialist on 20th-century American history and American race relations, Podair joined the Lawrence faculty in 1998 as the winner of that year’s Allan Nevins Prize, an award conferred by the Society of American Historians for the best Ph.D. dissertation in history written in the country that year.

He is the author of two books, “The Strike That Changed New York: Blacks, Whites, and the Ocean Hill-Brownsville Crisis,” which examines a bitter racial controversy in New York City and “Bayard Rustin: American Dreamer,” a widely praised biography of the civil rights activist who organized Martin Luther King’s 1963 March on Washington. Other recent projects include an essay on Rudolph Giuliani and New York’s racial politics and an introduction to a new edition of the classic book about the sinking of the Titanic, “A Night to Remember.”

“Your scholarly contributions to Lawrence have been outstanding,” said Beck in presenting Podair his award. “You have published two books while at Lawrence and are working on no less than three other books. Your work has been published in several important journals and has led to many awards and honors. If there is something more that you might be expected to do right now, I have no idea what that could be.”

His current scholarship includes a baseball-themed book on the cultural implications of the Brooklyn Dodgers move to Los Angeles, a book that looks at the United States from 1877 to the present entitled “American Conversations” and a collection of essays on the ways Americans have sought to define the concept of equality.

A native of New York City, Podair serves as a member of the Wisconsin Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and was named a fellow of the New York Academy of History in 2009. He earned a bachelor’s degree at New York University, a law degree from Columbia University and his Ph.D. from Princeton University.

Patrice Michaels, professor of music, received the Award for Excellence in Creative Activity. Established in 2006, the award recognizes outstanding creative work for advancing Lawrence’s mission.

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Patrice Michaels

An award-winning soprano, Michaels has taught vocal performance and music theatre in the Lawrence conservatory since 1994. A specialist in the works of Mozart, Michaels has performed at prestigious concert venues throughout the world, including Salzburg, Austria in 2006 for the 250th anniversary celebration of Mozart’s birth.

She is well known for her performance of “The Divas of Mozart’s Day,” a tour de force theatrical production that celebrates the divas of late 18th-century Vienna. She has released 20 commercial recordings, among them the disc “American Songs,” which included eight world premiere recordings.

“You have been a powerful force for creative activity, both through your own work and through the inspiration you have provided to others,” said Provost David Burrows in presenting Michaels her award. “Your presence has helped many students develop their own creative abilities, helped by your supportive and friendly attention.”

In a career that has taken her to opera stages around the world, Michaels also has performed for the U.S. Supreme Court and Cuban President Fidel Castro. Most recently she has remounted an original program she first developed while at the Banff Centre for the Arts. “A Song for Harmonica,” featuring a 4-foot tall bib overall-clad puppet worked by Michaels, is a program designed for elementary school students to explore the nature of inspiration through operatic excerpts and original songs.

Michaels earned a bachelor’s degree in music and theatre from Pomona College and a master of fine arts degree from the University of Minnesota.

Dominica Chang, assistant professor of French and Francophone studies, received Lawrence’s Young Teacher Award in recognition of demonstrated excellence in the classroom and the promise of continued growth.

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Dominica Chang

A member of the Lawrence faculty since 2007, Chang’s research interests include 19th-century French studies, literary history and historiography, print culture, film studies and language pedagogy.

In presenting her award, Burrows praised Chang for her “extraordinary success” in the classroom and for being a “wonderful example of the concept of individualized learning.”

“Students speak with enthusiasm about your ability to inspire everyone to learn and reach the highest levels of achievement,” said Burrows. “Your patience and warmth help students conquer their anxieties about writing and speaking and produce work of outstanding quality. Your feedback is frequent and helpful.

“Students say they strive to do well because they want to repay the trust you show in them and many give you the ultimate praise: you are the best professor they have ever had,” he added.

Chang earned a bachelor’s degree in French language and literature from UW-Madison, a master’s degree in French studies from Middlebury College and a Ph.D. in Romance languages and literatures from the University of Michigan. She also spent a year studying at the University of Paris.