Seven Earn Named Professorships

Seven faculty were appointed last week to named professorships following university wide competition and approval by the UW System Board of Regents.

The Board of Regents also named 10 Law School faculty to named professorships at their May 8-9 meeting at UW-Stevens Point.

All appointments are effective July 1.

The seven faculty chosen through university wide competition are James E. Dahlberg, Ronald L. Numbers and Stewart C. Prager, named Hilldale Professors; Sargent Bush Jr. and Robert D. Sack, named John Bascom Professors; James C. Knox, named Evjue-Bascom Professor (At Large); and Harold Scheub, named Evjue-Bascom Professor (Humanities).

Dahlberg has been on the Medical School faculty since 1969 and was named the Frederick Sanger Professor of Physiological Chemistry in 1991. His research focuses on the structure and function of DNA and RNA. Last year he was named to the National Academy of Sciences.

Numbers has taught history of American science and medicine since 1974 and is the William Coleman Professor of the History of Science and Medicine. He is the author or editor of 18 books, including Darwinism Comes to America, forthcoming from Harvard University Press.

Prager joined the faculty in 1977 and is now the R.N. Dexter Professor of Physics. His plasma physics research examines basic plasma problems related to fusion energy. Prager’s national service includes membership on the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology fusion review panel.

Hilldale Professorships are awarded to faculty who excel in scholarly activity, have outstanding research records and show promise of continued productivity. The five-year appointment is normally renewed and includes $25,000 for scholarly activities.

Bush has been on the English faculty since 1971 and has published on works and authors from five different centuries. He concentrates on the writings of early Puritan emigrants from England to America and their relationship to American literary traditions. Bush was chair of the English Department from 1980-83 and associate dean for humanities in the College of Letters and Science from 1989-1994.

Sack joined the geography faculty in 1970 and is the Clarence J. Glacken Professor of Geography. His research explores the causal properties of space and place in cultural and social systems. He has written several books and has received several awards for his work, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship to England.

The John Bascom Professorships are named after the university’s fifth president. They are given to faculty in recognition of their balanced contributions to the university’s teaching, research and service efforts. The professorship provides annual allocations from gift funds to enhance teaching and scholarly activities.

Knox joined the geography faculty in 1968. His research and teaching focus on the interface involving geomorphology, hydrology and climatology, and the effects of land use on river systems, watershed erosion and sedimentation. He is known internationally for his contributions concerning human impacts and climatic change on hydrologic systems.

Scheub became a faculty member in African languages and literature in 1970, is the author of approximately 50 articles and monographs, and author or editor of 11 books. He has spent of number of years teaching and doing research in Africa, including four years walking throughout southern Africa collecting oral materials and working with intellectuals in the Xhosa, Zulu, Sotho, Ndebele and Swati oral traditions.

The Evjue-Bascom Professorships couple the name of the university’s fifth president with that of the late William T. Evjue, founder, editor and publisher of The Capital Times. Professorships are given to faculty in recognition of outstanding teaching and scholarship. The five-year appointments are normally renewed and come with an annual allocation for scholarly activities.

The Law School faculty named to professorships are Gordon Brewster Baldwin and Walter J. Dickey, Evjue-Bascom Professorships; Ann Althouse, Robert W. and Irma M. Arthur-Bascom Professorship; Richard B. Bilder, Foley and Lardner-Bascom Professorship; Peter C. Carstensen, George H. Young-Bascom Professorship; Kenneth B. Davis, James E. and Ruth B. Doyle-Bascom Professorship; Marc Galanter, John and Rylla Bosshard Professorship; Leonard V. Kaplan, Jackson Professorship of Law; Neil K. Komesar, Burrus-Bascom Professorship; and Arthur F. McEvoy III, J. Willard Hurst Professorship.