Remarks for Newly Tenured Faculty

Remarks at Reception for Newly Tenured Faculty

April 5, 2018

Tonight we mark an important moment for Merrimack College. Our investment in you, your teaching and your research sends a message about our rise as an institution, and about Merrimack’s priorities. 

In an era when the national trend is to hire more contingent faculty, we have increased our tenured and tenure-track faculty lines. We continue to build for the future — yours, and ours.

This is not an end to your professional path. This is a the beginning of a new one.

So, please join me up here:

Dr. Bryan Bannon.

Brian teaches environmental studies and philosophy in the Department of Philosophy. He is the author of “From Mastery to Mystery,” a work urging us to reconsider how we think about nature.

Dr. Gav Bilev.

Gav teaches comparative and world politics in the Department of Political Science. He has done extensive fieldwork in the former Soviet Union on political structures, and is an affiliate of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard.

Dr. James Kaklamanos.

Jim teaches in civil engineering, focusing his research on earthquake prediction and engineering. He was named one of the “top new faces of civil engineering” by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2017, and received its New Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award.

Dr. Christopher Stuetzle.

Chris teaches in computer science, with a focus on computer graphics, gaming and human-computer interactions. Along with work in his discipline, Chris has collaborated with Gav Bilev to create a computer simulation to explore mechanisms of democratization.

Dr. Zi Yan.

Zi teaches in health science, focusing on health promotion, global health and epidemiology. Her research interests include socio-cultural aspects of health and physical activity.

Please join me in a round of applause for our newly tenured colleagues.