Lawrence University Faculty Promoted, Granted Tenured Appointments

APPLETON, WIS. -- Two Lawrence University faculty members -- Marcia Bjornerud and Ernestine Whitman -- have been promoted to the rank of full professor by the college's Board of Trustees.

In addition, Michael Kim, Kathryn Kueny, Rebecca Epstein Matveyev, Anthony Padilla and Lifongo Vetinde have been promoted to the rank of associate professor and granted tenured appointments.

Bjornerud, a geologist specializing in tectonics and structural geology, joined the faculty in 1995. She was a recipient of a Fulbright Scholars Program grant in 2000 to conduct field research in Norway, investigating the role fluids play in fault zones at different crustal levels. In addition to chairing the geology department, she also directs Lawrence's environmental studies program.

She is the author of the book "Guide to the Blue Planet" and also contributed the essay "Natural science, natural resources and the nature of Nature" to the book "The Earth Around Us," which was published in March, 2000. In 1996, the National Science Foundation named Bjornerud one of its "distinguished scholars" for its Visiting Professorships for Women Program. She earned her Ph.D. in geology at the University of Wisconsin.

Whitman spent seven years as a flutist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra before joining the Lawrence Conservatory of Music in 1978. During her career she has performed in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center as well as throughout Austria and Hungary. She also has participated in numerous summer festivals, including the New Sarasota Music Festival and the Grand Teton Music Festival, playing under Leonard Bernstein and Andre Previn, among others.

The recipient of Lawrence's Young Teacher Award in 1984, she is currently principal flute with the Pamiro Opera Company. She earned the doctor of musical arts degree at the University of Wisconsin.

A pianist, Kim joined the Lawrence Conservatory of Music in 1996. A prolific recitalist and chamber musician, he has performed in every major Canadian city and throughout the United States, United Kingdom, South America and Asia. A Canadian native, he studied at the Academy of Music at Mount Royal College in Calgary, completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Calgary and earned his Ph.D. in piano performance from the Juilliard School, where he held the Vladimir Horowitz Scholarship.

Kueny, a member of the religious studies department since 1995, is a scholar of comparative religions and the Muslim faith. She has spoken and written extensively on the origins and tenets of Islam. Her first book, "The Rhetoric of Sobriety: Wine in Early Islam," was published in 2001. Her current research focuses on styles of rhetoric and interpretation in early Islamic texts. She earned her Ph.D. in history of religions from the University of Chicago.

Matveyev, a scholar of 19th-century Russian literature, especially Tolstoy, Pushkin and Dostoevski, joined the Lawrence faculty in 1996. A specialist in foreign language pedagogy, her research interests include Russian contemporary culture and incorporating cultural study into Russian language programs. In 1999, she was recognized with Lawrence's Young Teacher Award. She earned her doctorate in Russian language and literature from the University of Wisconsin.

Padilla has taught piano and chamber music at the Lawrence Conservatory since 1997 and is currently artist-in-residence at the Bay View Music Festival in Michigan. He earned his bachelor's degree from Northern Illinois University and his master's degree from the Eastman School of Music. He also holds a Performer's Certificate from Eastman, an Artist's Diploma from the University of Washington and has studied at Gnesin Institute of Music in Moscow and at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

Vetinde joined the French department in 1996. His scholarly interests include Francophone literature, drama, and cinema. Active in Lawrence's biannual Francophone Seminar in Dakar, Senegal, Vetinde studied at the Université de Yaoundé in Cameroun and the Université de Dijon in France. He earned his Ph.D. in romance languages, with an emphasis in Francophone African literature, from the University of Oregon. Prior to coming to Lawrence, he taught French at the University of Kansas.