Dear colleagues,
As the academic year has come to a close, the Board of Trustees held their June meeting yesterday and there were a number of important personnel actions. I wanted to take a moment to recognize two groups of our colleagues; those who have just earned tenure and promotion to Associate Professor and those who are retiring from TCNJ.
Our three colleagues below have earned Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor for their stellar accomplishments in all three areas of our work; teaching, scholarship and service. These individuals all embody the teacher-scholar model for faculty work and have made significant contributions to our departments, the School, the College and their disciplines. We have benefited tremendously from their efforts and I am grateful for their dedication and hard work. Congratulations!
Michael Bloodgood, Computer Science
Rachel Snider, Mathematics and Statistics
Sejong Yoon, Computer Science
We also have two distinguished and valued faculty colleagues who are retiring from TCNJ.
Robert Cunningham, Mathematics and Statistics
Bob has been a faculty member at TCNJ since 1988, and prior to joining us he taught at Gwynedd Mercy University for 10 years and was a high school math teacher and supervisor for an additional eight years. He has had a remarkable 50 years as an educator.
Bob’s commitment has been to the development and education of future math teachers. He has contributed to their education through instruction, where he has embraced research-based strategies for improving student learning, and through his more direct role in the supervision of countless student teachers in their senior field experiences.
In addition, Bob has been an engaged teacher-scholar- recently studying the importance of getting students to explain their work in math assessments and understanding how expecting students to articulate their reasoning contributes both to student understanding of the material and how instructors can modify their teaching strategies to promote more effective learning. In 2016, Bob received a Fulbright Specialist grant to work with pre-service and in-service math teachers at the Anguilla Community College.
Bob has been a leader- here at TCNJ, serving on numerous college-wide committees and councils, including the Promotion Committee and the sabbaticals council. He coordinated the Collegebound pre-college program for 15 years- profoundly impacting underrepresented students in their educational trajectories. More broadly, Bob’s leadership in mathematics education has been at the state level, serving as President of the Association of Mathematics Teachers of NJ and nationally, as Program Chair for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Nancy Hingston, Mathematics and Statistics
Nancy has been a professor since 1981- serving as an educator and researcher for 40 years. She began her career at the University of Pennsylvania, spent a few years at William Patterson College and arrived at TCNJ in 1990. During this time frame, she has also been appointed a member of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton for 6 separate terms.
During her time here, Nancy has taught a large number of courses- including in just this last year- Geometry, Multivariable Calculus and Advanced Calculus with Topology. She is described by her colleagues and students as a natural and effective teacher
Nancy is an incredibly successful and internationally recognized teacher-scholar. Her research is in the field of geometry- specifically closed geodesics. She has made significant contributions to the field of differential geometry, namely in the areas of Hamiltonian dynamics and Riemannian geometry. In 2017, Nancy was named a fellow of the American Mathematical Society, in recognition of her work in these areas.
At TCNJ, Nancy has contributed to both the SoSA and Sabbaticals Councils, as well as serving as a member of the college-wide promotions committee. Nancy has been a role-model and an advocate for women in STEM. Since 1995 she has served on the Institute for Advanced Study’s Mentoring Program for Women in Mathematics.
Bob and Nancy, in your 90 years as educators, and teacher-scholars your impacts have been tremendous and we are grateful for your sustained and significant contributions to our community, our students and to your fields. You will be missed, wishing you all the best in this next phase.
All the best,
Amanda Norvell, PhD
Interim Dean, School of Science