As Moore and Warren Colleges take shape at the corner of West End and 21st avenues, Vanderbilt University Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Richard McCarty has named two award-winning faculty members to lead the new residential colleges that are part of the College Halls at Vanderbilt system.
Jim Lovensheimer, associate professor of musicology, will be faculty director for Moore College, and Doug Fisher, associate professor of computer science and computer and electrical engineering, will serve as faculty director for Warren College. Lovensheimer was awarded the 2008 Ingalls Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching and the 2008 Chancellor’s Cup. Fisher earned the 2006 Chancellor’s Cup and won the 2012 K.C. Potter Award.
Administrators, students, faculty and staff comprised the search committee charged with identifying and interviewing the candidates for the new faculty directors.
“I am thrilled that professors Jim Lovensheimer and Doug Fisher will be the founding faculty directors of Moore College and Warren College, respectively,” McCarty said. “Each has contributed to the undergraduate experience in many and varied ways, and they will bring great energy and excitement to the two new colleges from the moment the doors open. Special thanks go to the search committee, co-chaired by Dean Mark Bandas and Associate Provost Cynthia Cyrus, for its excellent work.”
College Halls at Vanderbilt continues the university’s commitment, which started with The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons for first-year students, to creating engaging living and learning communities. Faculty in residence serve as mentors and guide these academic learning environments, which are designed to make all students feel welcome to participate and contribute ideas and experiences at Vanderbilt.
Moore College and Warren College will open in fall 2014 to a combination of sophomores, juniors and seniors.
“Dr. Lovensheimer lives out the balanced tenets that Vanderbilt develops in its students,” Nick Hall, a Vanderbilt senior and a member of the search committee, said. “This is evident because of his impressive academic credentials, rich engagement with campus and student issues, and ability to have a comfortable, engaging conversation with diverse individuals.”
Lovensheimer will live in a faculty apartment in Moore College, which will have 340 beds. The college will include Rice Hall and Smith Hall, each led by resident graduate fellows who will work with Lovensheimer to facilitate leadership development and programming goals for the college.
Fisher will take on Warren College, also living among students in a faculty apartment. Warren College, with 319 beds, will include Elliston Hall and Delbruck Hall, both of which also will be led by resident graduate fellows.
“After hearing about the great chemistry that Dr. Fisher has built in his current role as faculty head of McGill, I knew that he would be perfect for the same role in a larger setting in which building community is one of the main goals,” said Audrey Bemis, a member of the search committee and the Class of 2016. “The ideas he proposed to involve students, along with his vision for the new College Halls, set him apart from the other candidates that we interviewed.”
Contact:
Princine Lewis, (615) 322-NEWS
princine.lewis@vanderbilt.edu