New Faculty Announced

It's been said that a school is only as strong as those who teach in it. If that is true, then I’m convinced that Claremont is in good hands.

We learned this month that two new scholars will join Claremont’s faculty next fall. Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook was named Professor of Religious Education, in a position previously held by Elizabeth Conde-Frazier. Sheryl is a senior scholar who is currently dean at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass. An ordained Episcopal priest, she holds doctorates in both education and church history. She will no doubt continue the cross-disciplinary approaches to religious education for which Claremont is known.

The appointment of Grace Yia-Hei Kao as Associate Professor of Ethics (a position currently occupied by Ellen Ott Marshall) is also good news for Claremont. Grace is currently at Virginia Tech, where her teaching and research moves among a variety of issues related to religious, social, and personal ethics. She has a particularly interesting analysis about the tragic shootings several years ago at her current school, which demonstrated to us her breadth, depth and sensitivities as a scholar.

What these two hold in common is an excitement about coming to Claremont and joining in this institution's transformation into a multi-religious university. Both bring excellent skills and perspectives that we in order to make this ambitious plan possible.

(By the way … two other faculty searches are still underway – Hebrew Bible, and Spiritual Care and Pastoral Counseling – so I look forward to bringing you good news about those positions in the weeks to come.)