President welcomes new crop of researchers and educators

University of Oregon President Michael Schill welcomed new faculty members from across campus at an evening reception Tuesday at McMorran House.

In addressing an audience that included faculty from creative writing, geography, biology, education sciences and other disciplines, he emphasized the important role that new faculty members play in the evolution of the university.

“You all are going to plant roots in Eugene and all of the beautiful leaves that you grow will be your great research,” Schill said. “A night like tonight where I get to talk to you and learn a bit about what you do is really enormously pleasing.”

Kevin Dicus, an assistant professor of classical archaeology, looked back on his first term in the UO’s Department of Classics. Dicus’ primary research interest is the archaeology of Italy during the mid-to late-Republican period.

For the past decade, he has served as excavation supervisor for the Pompeii Archaeological Research Project: Porta Stabia and is currently working on a book on waste management strategies in ancient urban settings. He contrasted his students at the UO with the engineering- and science-heavy classrooms at his previous institution, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

“I’ve been surprised by the diversity of our students and their range of interests,” Dicus said.  “They can offer so many perspectives, and it’s really a nice cross section being represented.”

Marjorie Celona, an assistant professor in the Creative Writing Program, reflected on her first term in a program that is consistently ranked among the top in the nation. Celona’s research interests include contemporary short-and long-form fiction, the history of the realist novel, psychological realism and fiction by and about women. She was previously at the University of Cincinnati and is a graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop.

“(The UO) has been fantastic,” Celona said. “Ours is a really special program. To be a part of that and to teach these amazing students is great. It’s a transformative experience for our students but in many ways it’s a transformative experience for me, too.”

The new faculty reception also drew UO Provost Scott Coltrane, Board of Trustees Chair Chuck Lillis and fellow Trustee Ross Kari. Brad Shelton, the UO’s interim vice president for research and innovation, offered welcoming remarks that emphasized the UO’s role as a research university.

“Whether you’re a painter or a musician or, like my father, a poet — whether you’re a biologist or a chemist, it’s all research and it’s all extraordinarily important and it’s why we’re all here,” Shelton said.

Schill reminded new faculty members of his push to fill his office shelves with faculty-authored books. He invited them to visit him in his Johnson Hall office and expressed an interest in learning more about their areas of research expertise.

He also reiterated one of his core goals as president, that of continuing to grow the UO’s tenure-related faculty and promoting the university’s academic research.

“You will change the world with your research,” Schill said. “Thank you for the research that you are doing, thank you for teaching our students and thank you for being a part of our great community.”

By Lewis Taylor, Office for Research and Innovation