Next Co-Directors for the University Honors Program

Serving as one of Fairfield's signature initiatives to further cultivate the academic potential of many of its undergraduate students, the University Honors Program benefits greatly from both guidance and vision of faculty colleagues who are dedicated to the Program's goals and aspirations. From working collaboratively with academic advisors and members of the Deans Offices to insure that the students remain on track for degree completion, to building an honors curriculum that encompasses faculty members across disciplines who want to go above and beyond to create learning environments that both challenge and excite the students, the work of the Co-Directors is, as it has been and always will be, of paramount importance.

Given the responsibilities, academic administrative leadership is most thankful to those who expressed and/or officially submitted statements of interest for these important positions. The Academic Division is proud to announce that Dr. Margaret McClure and Dr. Dennis Keenan have graciously agreed to take on the roles of Co-Directors for the University Honors Program for the next three-year term.

Dr. Margaret McClure is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Psychology Department, and she is the Elizabeth DeCamp McInerney Chair in Health Sciences (B.S.- psychology; Ph.D.- clinical psychology, both earned from Fordham). She is a clinical psychologist with expertise in serious mental illness, long-term effects of childhood trauma, and intimate partner violence. Dr. McClure is the author of over 30 peer-reviewed, scientific articles and her scholarship has been published in top-tier clinical psychology and psychiatry journals, such as The Journal of Abnormal Psychology and The American Journal of Psychiatry. Dr. McClure has mentored more than 60 psychology students in supervised and independent research, summer research, capstone projects, and internships placements, both on campus at Fairfield and in her clinical lab at Icahn School of Medicine Mt. Sinai. She serves on the steering/program committees for the interdisciplinary programs in Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies and Health Studies. She is also the President of Fairfield University's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, Zeta of Connecticut.

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Dr. Dennis Keenan is a Professor of Philosophy (B.A.- biology, with a minor in philosophy at St. John's University in Minnesota; M.A. and Ph.D.- philosophy at Loyola University of Chicago). He began teaching in the University Honors Program in 1996, and has taught 10 honors courses.ˇ Dr. Keenan's area of expertise is 19th and 20th CenturyˇContinentalˇPhilosophy.  He is the author of the books Death and Responsibility and The Question of Sacrifice, and he is the editor of the book Hegel and Contemporary Continental Philosophy. He is also the author of numerous articles on Nietzsche, Klossowski, Levinas, Blanchot, Irigaray, Derrida, and Kristeva. In addition to serving on many university committees, Dr. Keenan has chaired the Department of Philosophy, the Rank and Tenure Committee, the Academic Council, the Research Committee, and the College of Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee.ˇ Dr. Keenan is a member of the Academy Players, which is a theater company comprised of university faculty, staff, and administrators that has staged six plays for the community.

Thank you to both Dr. McClure and Dr. Keenan. The thoughts and insights that you shared in your statements of interest about where to take the Honors Program next, so that it continues to build on its historical successes while also most effectively servicing current and future students, are indeed welcomed and much appreciated.

With best wishes for moving forward!

Richard Greenwald, Ph.D.

Zhan Li, DBA

Meredith Kazer, Ph.D.

Richard Heist, Ph.D.

Robert Hannafin, Ph.D.

Mark Ligas, Ph.D.