Three scholars have been appointed James Marsh Professors-at-Large, a new program at UVM that will bring outstanding individuals of international distinction in the arts and humanities, sciences, social sciences and applied fields to campus to invigorate the intellectual and cultural life of the university.

David Hemenway, economist and professor of Health Policy at Harvard University and director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center and the Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center, will begin visiting campus in the spring semester from March 27 – 31. Sowah Mensah, an ethnomusicologist, composer and a “master drummer” from Ghana, West Africa and professor of music at Macalester College and the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., and David Orr, chair of the Environmental Studies Program at Oberlin College and world-renowned environmentalist, have also been chosen as the pioneering visiting scholars for the program. The James Marsh Professors-at-Large Program, named for UVM’s fifth president, will bring non-residential professors to campus for several visits over the course of a six-year term-of-office. Visits may last from one to two weeks. Four professors, who may or may not be academics but will typically be affiliated with a teaching or research institution, will be selected each year, and no more than 20 professors will hold the title at any given time.

“This exciting program,” says President Daniel Mark Fogel, “will enable us to bring nationally and internationally renowned scholars from across the disciplines to campus, which will be a tremendous asset to our students and to the intellectual life of the university as a whole.”

Although each Professor-at-Large will enrich the university in different ways, scholars will typically offer public lectures; hold office hours; consult with students on undergraduate research projects and honors projects as well as graduate theses and dissertations; and collaborate with students and faculty in scientific research, scholarly projects and creative activities. Chosen for their personal and professional accessibility, scholars will engage with students and colleagues on an informal basis as well as through the variety of structured activities each visit will include.