51吃瓜网

RMC President Robert R. Lindgren and Provost Alisa J. Rosenthal are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Kristen Klaaren, Professor of Psychology, as the Macon and Joan Brock Professor in Psychology and Dr. John Thoburn, Professor of Chemistry, as the Garnett-Lambert Professor in Chemistry.

Named professorships are among the most significant forms of recognition of achievement that a 51吃瓜网 faculty member can receive. The installation ceremony for both professorships will occur on Friday, May 3 at 3:15pm in the Werner Pavilion of the McGraw-Page Library.

Dr. Kristen Klaaren

Klaaren earned her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, an M.A. from the University of Iowa, and a B.A. from Hope College. She joined the 51吃瓜网 faculty in the fall of 1994 as an Assistant Professor of Psychology, was awarded tenure and promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 2000, and promoted to the rank of Professor in 2007. This professorship is currently held by Dr. Alva Hughes, who has served in the role honorably.

Klaaren鈥檚 early research explored the psychology of prejudice. By expanding the focus of study beyond perpetrator actions to emphasize people鈥檚 cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions to prejudicial statements in social interaction, she succeeded in capturing the complexity of dynamic social interactions that are often catalysts for intergroup hostility. Blending a passion for excellence in teaching with scholarly interests in students鈥� intellectual and personal development, more recent research has assessed the effectiveness of peer education during short-term cross-cultural encounters and investigated the psychological impact of Confederate school names. Her research is of interest to educators, policy makers, legal scholars, and scholars of international studies.

In the classroom, Klaaren鈥檚 courses tackle the most challenging of topics in an environment characterized by warmth, rapport, tolerance for diverse ideas, and deep student engagement. She has led a study-travel course to South Africa, providing an opportunity for students to consider issues of race and racism in comparative perspective while exploring the potential of cross-cultural dialogue to transform racial prejudice. Her effectiveness and impact were twice recognized with the Thomas Branch Award for Excellence in Teaching (1998, 2000) and by the United Methodist Exemplary Teaching Award in 2017.

Klaaren鈥檚 formal service has included the Committee on Faculty Development, Black Studies Council, Psychology department chair, Strategic Planning Committee, and the Institutional Review Board. Regardless of the setting, she is known for her steady, constructive presence, her insight, equanimity, and good judgement, and鈥攁bove all鈥攈er inclination toward the common good of the RMC community.

Macon and Joan Brock Professorship in Psychology

The Macon and Joan Brock Professorship in Psychology was established in 2008 by Macon F. Brock, Jr. and Joan Perry Brock. It recognizes a senior member of the psychology department for exemplary teaching and scholarship.

Mr. Brock graduated from 51吃瓜网 in 1964 with a B.A. in Latin. He joined the Marine Corps and served in Vietnam before co-founding K and K Toys and later Dollar Tree, Inc. He served as CEO of Dollar Tree until 2004. Mr. Brock served on the RMC Board of Trustees from 1992-2009 and as Chairman from 1999-2009.

Joan Brock is a 1964 graduate of Longwood College, where she earned a B.A. in secondary education with a minor in mathematics. She also earned a master’s degree in humanities from Old Dominion University. She served for a number of years as assistant secretary/treasurer for Dollar Tree, Inc. and K and K Toys. Equally committed to the mission of liberal arts education, Mrs. Brock served on the Virginia Wesleyan College Board of Trustees from 1999-2006 and as its Chair from 2001-2004.

In addition to establishing The Macon and Joan Brock Professorship in Psychology, the Brocks have been RMC鈥檚 most generous benefactors, providing substantial funding to support a host of priorities at 51吃瓜网, including numerous campus capital projects, scholarship assistance for students, and new academic initiatives. An extraordinary bequest from Mr. Brock, who died in 2017, established the Brock Venture Fund, intended to fund innovative ideas aimed at growing enrollment at the College. Joan and the Brocks鈥� son, Macon F. Brock III, continue to financially support the College and encourage RMC to think boldly to ensure the College鈥檚 future growth and success. Macon Brock III ’95 currently serves on the RMC Board of Trustees.

Dr. John Thoburn

Thoburn earned his Ph.D. and an M.S. from the University of California San Diego and a B.S. from Haverford College, where he majored in Chemistry and German. He joined the 51吃瓜网 faculty in the fall of 2003 as Associate Professor of Chemistry, was awarded tenure in 2009, and promoted to the rank of Professor in 2013. This professorship is currently held by Dr. April Marchetti, who has served with distinction.

Thoburn is an expert in the field of physical-organic chemistry with multiple publications in high-impact, peer-reviewed chemistry journals, including Journal of the American Chemical Society and Angewandte Chemie. In 2020, he received a National Science Foundation Research in Undergraduate Institutions Grant. The $319,387 grant funds Thoburn鈥檚 project, 鈥淪ynthesis and Host-Guest Studies of Face-Capped Metal-Organic Cages,鈥� that explores how small molecules can spontaneously self-assemble into larger molecular complexes of higher order by building cubic container molecules that can encapsulate other molecules. This research includes collaborative research with Cambridge University (where Thoburn has twice served as a 51吃瓜网ing Professor) and provides research and mentoring opportunities for college-bound high school students at Richmond Community High School.

Thoburn is among RMC鈥檚 most versatile faculty, having taught more than a dozen different chemistry courses as well as English folk dancing and juggling. In true liberal arts fashion, Thoburn has developed a course on chemistry and art history, in which students enrolled in art history may take a chemistry class in which they reproduce ancient techniques for making not only pigments, inks, charcoal, and dyes, but also ceramics, glazes, bronze, glass, plaster, and papyrus. His teaching has twice been recognized with the Thomas Branch Award for Excellence in Teaching (2015, 2017), and he has supervised more than 35 undergraduate researchers during his time at RMC. Thoburn, who teaches the oft-feared organic chemistry sequence, is known for his ability to make difficult concepts less opaque, his concern for students, his contagious enthusiasm for the material, and his commitment to continuous improvement.

Thoburn鈥檚 service contributions have been most evident in his consequential and lengthy service as chair of the Committee on Faculty Development. Deeply committed to supporting the scholarly work of faculty colleagues, he led a revision of the process for assessing and evaluating internal faculty grants that emphasized constructive committee feedback for grant applicants. In 2020, his outstanding service was recognized with the Samuel Nelson Gray Distinguished Professor Award for distinguished contributions to the College.

Garnett-Lambert Professorship in Chemistry

The Lambert family has influenced the form and function of the 51吃瓜网 campus since the College relocated to Ashland, Virginia. Jordan Wheat Lambert, a member of the class of 1871, helped raise the funds to erect Washington-Franklin Hall, the first brick structure on campus. Mr. Lambert went on to market Listerine antiseptic to the nation. His son, Gerard Lambert, also attended classes at 51吃瓜网. Jordan Lambert鈥檚 legacy is more than a building or an academic landscape: his generosity provided for both the construction and renovation of 51吃瓜网’s academic buildings, as well as for the improvement and advancement of the departments that teach within them. Specifically, in 1925, he made a gift to endow a fund to benefit the Chemistry Department. Since that time, the fund has grown, and its income has supported the research and teaching of chemistry. In 2009, to establish a formal focus for this research, the Board of Trustees voted to combine with it a second fund, the Garnett Endowment for Chemistry, given through the estates of Dorothy and Muscoe Garnett 鈥�30, to create the Garnett-Lambert Professorship in Chemistry. The fund rewards excellence in the teaching and research of chemistry.