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The key to the quality of Eckerd's academic program is the faculty. While all are highly trained scholars in their fields (96% hold their PhD or terminal degree), they are also dedicated primarily to teaching and mentoring students. Our alumni rank "relationships with faculty" as what they valued most about their Eckerd experience. Here are just a few recent examples of outstanding Eckerd faculty members.
Professor Reggie Hudson Secures More Than $1 Million Dollars in NASA Research Grants
 Dr. Reggie L. Hudson, Professor of Chemistry at Eckerd College for 30 years, has recently secured more than $1 million dollars in National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) research grants for solar system exploration. Dr. Hudson is receiving two grants for research into the chemistry of the outer solar system and he is co-investigator on a third grant to study the organic chemistry of meteorites. Research funded by these grants will be conducted both at Eckerd College and at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Funding will cover expenses for the operation of the NASA Goddard radiation facility for several months each year, the assistance of an experienced NASA scientist and technician, and costs for Dr. Hudson and Eckerd College students to conduct experiments, travel and present their results at scientific meetings, and to publish their data.
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Appointments to Tom and Mary James Professorship in Finance, Elie Wiesel Professorship of Humane Letters Announced
Professor Naveen K. Malhotra was appointed as the first occupant of the Tom and Mary James Professorship in Finance. Professor Malhotra joined the Eckerd College faculty as Assistant Professor of Finance and Management in 1985. Professor Carolyn Johnston was appointed the first occupant of the Elie Wiesel Professorship of Humane Letters. Professor Johnston joined the Eckerd College faculty in 1978.
Learn more about these appointments here.
Eckerd Theatre Professor Cynthia Totten Receives Directing Honors
Professor Cynthia Totten has received a Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (Region IV) Meritorious Achievement Award for Excellence in Direction 2007 for directing A Midsummer Night's Dream.
This award signifies Region IV recognition for Eckerd College's Theatre program by the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, a national professional theater organization based in Washington, D.C. that involves 18,000 students from 600 colleges and universities nationwide.
Learn more about the award here.
More Faculty in the News
Vicky Baker, Professor of Anthropology, chaired a session titled "School Systems and Applied Anthropology" and presented her research on Jordanian kindergartens at the national meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in Memphis, Tennessee.
Julie Empric, Professor of Literature, presented a paper, "From Sound Bites to Sound Learning: Designing Discussion for Depth," at the Lilly South Conference on Teaching, held in Greensboro in February; chaired a session on "Shakespeare and the Law" at the New College Conference for Medieval and Renaissance Studies in Sarasota in March; and, with Eckerd alumna Judge Susan Russ Walker (’77), led a seminar on "Law and Literature" (reading Aeschylus, Genesis 22, and Merimee) at the Federal Judicial Center’s conference for Federal Magistrate Judges in Memphis in April.
Frank Hamilton, Assistant Professor of
Management, presented his paper "Organizing and Managing Social Change for Companion Animals: One County’ Story" at the 71st Annual Meeting of the Southern Sociological Society in Richmond, Virginia, on April 10th. Frank has been invited to attend The Jepson Summer Institute for Leadership and the Liberal Arts at the University of Richmond, May 19-21, where teaching and research at the intersections between leadership and the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences will be showcased. In addition, Frank has been selected by the Animal and Society Institute as the recipient of one of seven 2008 Human-Animal Studies Fellowships, which will enable him to pursue research in residence at Michigan State University, June 2 to July 11, 2008.
Davina Lopez, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, has been awarded a Wabash Center Summer Research Grant in the amount of $7,000 as a result of her proposal entitled "Reimagining the Others: Documenting the Roman Imperial Visual Context of Paul’s Letters." The Wabash Center supports the careers of promising and committed new teachers and scholars in religion and theology.
Naveen Malhotra, Steve Sizoo, Morris Shapero, and Tom Munro had their paper "Factor Structure of Deterrents to Adult Participation in Higher Education" published in the Winter issue of the Journal of College Teaching and Learning.
Naveen Malhotra, Tom and Mary James Professor of Finance, led the Eckerd College Students in Free Enterprise team to the Regional competition in Philadelphia, April 7-9. EC-SIFE won the championship and will be competing in the Nationals in Chicago in May. The following students were on the team: Gabrielle Arcangel, Adam Bottie, Stephanie Bowen, Lauren deLalla, Linda Rendleman, David Schanzer, and Lesly White.
In April, Eileen Mikals-Adachi, along with eight Eckerd students, participated in the Tampa Bay Area Japanese Speech Contest sponsored by the Association of Florida Teachers of Japanese. One second year student received third place for his speech and four of the first year students received first place for their skit. This was the first year that Eckerd participated in the competition.
Yolanda Molina-Gavilan, Professor of Spanish, received a favorable review in Publishers Weekly of the science fiction anthology "SWFA European Hall of Fame," in which her translation of "The Day We Went through the Transition" is included.
Muhamad Olimat, Assistant Professor of Political Science, had his article "The Fourth Wave of Democratization" published in the Spring 2008 issue of the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences.
In April, Lora Reed, Assistant Professor of Management, presented her paper, "The Big Five Personality Traits as Retention Factors in 9-1-1 Emergency Call Centers" at the Society for Advancement of Management (SAM) Annual Conference in Arlington, Virginia. In May, Lora will present "Parable of the Talents: A Means of Understanding Servant Leadership through Service Learning", a paper co-authored with colleague Donna Trent and based on Aspec Grant-funded projects conducted by Lora's students in Corporate Social Responsibility. The paper will be presented at the National Conference on Faith-Based Service-Learning hosted at Messiah College in Pennsylvania.
Scott Ward, Professor of Literature and Creative Writing, has been selected to participate in a seminar on Ancient Greece in the Modern College Classroom, co-sponsored by the Center for Hellenic Studies and the Council of Independent Colleges that will be held on the Center’s Washington, D.C. campus, July 14-18. Gregory Nagy, Francis Jones Professor of Classical Greek Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard University and Kenneth Scott Morrell, Associate Professor of Greek and Roman Studies at Rhodes College, will lead the seminar on "Homer and Hesiod." The Center for Hellenic Studies is a world-class research institute affiliated with Harvard University, and Scott is one of only 23 faculty members selected for participation from an unprecedented number of high-quality nominations.
Previous Faculty in the News
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Our students go on to great graduate programs. One of my former students is at UT in Austin and got an NSF fellowship to work in biophysics. Another, a chem./physics double major, is at MIT. Others go on to master's programs in engineering and they have no difficulty. 
