Fall is on our doorstep and within a few weeks we will be graced with the colors that make Vermont one of the most special places on earth. In late August we welcomed 1,211 first-year students to the College. By many measures (e.g., SATs, class rank) the class of 2020 is the highest achieving entering class in the College’s recent history. They join the nearly 3,200 returning students that collectively represent the most talented groups of students in the College’s history.
Our ability to attract and retain such a talented group of students is due in no small part to our extraordinary staff and faculty. Our faculty continue to achieve national and international recognition for their scholarship and creative work, and they continue to bring their talent and enthusiasm into the classroom. As I have mentioned in the past, many colleges and universities boast of their focus on the scholar-teacher model; in the College we practice it at the highest level.
Our scholar-teachers continue to focus on creating new experiences for our students that follow from their scholarship and creative work. This fall we introduced new minors in Jewish Studies, Neuroscience, Writing, and International Politics as well as a bachelor of science degree in Economics. This year we will be exploring several other new and compelling majors and minors for our students that capitalize on the many clusters of faculty expertise across the College, including media studies, health and society, design thinking, and museum studies.
On September 8th we celebrated the investiture of Professor Jane Knodell as the inaugural Mark J. Zwynenburg Green and Gold Professor of Financial History. Professor Knodell is the author of numerous articles, reviews, and opinion pieces, published in leading economics and financial history journals. Much of her published work explores the role of central banks during the period of early industrialization in the U.S. and other countries. She recently completed her first book titled The Second Bank of the U.S.: “Central” banker in an era of nation building, which is forthcoming. The Zwynenburg Professorship was a collaborative effort by the Zwynenburg family and Professor Emeritus of Economics Tim Bates and College alumna Rosalind Cross (UVM ’82) who hosted many events to raise awareness of the Professorship and to assemble a community of over 100 donors. The Zwynenburg Professorship honors the memory of Mark Zwynenburg (UVM ’81), economics and political science major and student of Professor Bates who was tragically killed with the downing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988. In addition to honoring the memory of Mark, the Professorship ensures that financial history will be central to the curriculum in economics from this point forward.
Thank you for taking the time to read the newsletter and to get caught up on the goings on in the College. The College is moving forward, and if you are in a position to help us, please let me know.
Be well,
Bill Falls
Dean of Arts and Sciences