Professorship: Washington & Lee University

[m.meyerhoff@auckland.ac.nz]

Forwarded on behalf of Lesley Wheeler, who is happy to answer questions prospective applicants might have.



Washington and Lee University is seeking an outstanding teacher of undergraduates and recognized scholar for the Rupert H. Johnson Professorship in the College.  The successful candidate will be an accomplished scholar working at the intersections of leadership and the history of ideas.  The holder of the Johnson Professorship will have a record of significant scholarly publication that explores how individuals and ideas shape the course of history.  Any area of historical focus in the liberal arts disciplines will be considered, including science, philosophy, religion, sociology, anthropology, history, literature, and the arts.  The Johnson Professor’s scholarship should illuminate how historical circumstance, culture, and intellectual currents have framed solutions to specific challenges, and how individuals have responded to such contextual factors in ways that have advanced important fields of human endeavor.  As important, the Johnson Professor will be a dedicated teacher capable of devising innovative courses that will help undergraduates both to understand the key role that ideas have played in shaping the possibilities for human action and to reflect deeply upon how individual values and actions can result in ethical, social and political leadership to one’s community and world.

 
This new endowed professorship is one of several university-wide initiatives funded by the Johnson Program in Leadership and Integrity.  The Johnson Professor in the College will join the current Johnson Professor in Entrepreneurship and Leadership in the Williams School of Commerce, Economics and Politics.  Together, the Johnson Professors will play a role in planning an annual colloquium and lecture series designed to bring to campus prominent scholars and recognized national and international leaders to interact with students and faculty around a chosen theme.  The Johnson Professors will have a special role in mentoring outstanding students who are selected as Johnson Scholarship recipients; they will also help oversee the Johnson Summer Internship program in which rising seniors undertake internships and projects aimed at developing their own leadership potential.

 
Washington and Lee is a private, liberal arts university with 1800 undergraduates, nestled in the Shenandoah Valley in Lexington, Virginia. One of the nation's top liberal arts colleges, W&L is unique in having accredited programs in business administration, journalism, and accounting, plus a graduate School of Law.  Established in 1749, it is the ninth oldest institution of higher learning in the nation. To learn more, please visit www.wlu.edu.

 
Please send applications, nominations, or expressions of interest to Professor Alexandra Brown, Johnson Search Committee Chair, Washington & Lee University, Baker Hall, Lexington, Virginia  24450.  Initial materials should include a letter of application and cv.  For full consideration, please submit your materials by January 15, 2011.



Lesley Wheeler, Professor of English
Baker Hall 312, Washington and Lee University
Lexington VA 24450
wheelerlm at wlu.edu
phone: 540 458 8758; FAX: 540 458 8708

Heterotopia is now available from Barrow Street Press
http://www.barrowstreet.org/