Eleanor Henderson, associate professor of Writing, has been named as the next Robert Ryan Professor in the Humanities by Michael Richardson, interim dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences. The professorship will support her project Too Much Fire, a memoir forthcoming from Ecco/HarperCollins.
The Robert Ryan Professorship in the Humanities is project-based and awarded for a three-year term on a competitive basis from applicants in the departments of Art History, English, History, Modern Languages and Literatures, Philosophy/Religion, and Writing, as well as from among those teaching humanities-based courses in Communication Studies. The award consists of a one-course reduction in teaching load each semester for three consecutive years.
Professor Ryan’s forty-year career in the History Department was distinguished by his dedication to students, his integrative vision of the humanities, and his continuing commitment to intellectual renewal. Given this legacy, the selection committee accepted humanities proposals of all types—including those focused upon scholarly, pedagogical, or creative projects—and preference was given to proposals that demonstrated distinctive connections among humanities disciplines.