Named 2007

Marina Balina, Isaac Funk Professor and Professor of German and Russian

Established in 1866 by the Funk family to honor Illinois Wesleyan founder Isaac Funk

Named to the Isaac Funk Professorship in 2007, Marina Balina is a professor of Russian Studies who is known internationally for her pioneering research of Soviet and post-Soviet children's literature. A native of Russia who was educated in Russia and Germany, Balina joined Illinois Wesleyan University's faculty in 1989 and is a member of the University's Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, where she has helped shape the curriculum and served as department chair.

A prolific author, Balina has published numerous articles and five books in three languages – Russian, German and English – and is sought internationally as a speaker, including recent guest lectures in Italy, Austria, Russia and Germany. Her dedication to her students is legendary. Balina was recently named the recipient of the 2008 Pantagraph Award for Teaching Excellence at Illinois Wesleyan.

Balina has won grants from the U.S. Department of Education, the Austrian Ministry of Culture, the American Association of Learned Societies, the National Endowment of Humanities and the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars.

Named 2011

Given Harper, Beach Lewis Chair of Biology

Established in 1963 through a gift to honor George C. Lewis and Mrs. Ella Beach Lewis

Named to the Beach Lewis Chair of Biology in 2011, R. Given Harper is an avian ecologist whose scholarly work ranges from documenting DDT and heavy metal contaminants in North American gray wolves, to estimating the breeding populations of red-tailed hawks and American Kestrels in Illinois.

While at Illinois Wesleyan, Harper has served as chair of the Biology Department and co-chair of the Premedical/Predental Advisory Committee. He has been a leader in sustainability efforts on campus, and together with Environmental Studies Program Director Abigail Jahiel contributed a chapter in Strategies for Sustainability: Stories from the Ivory Tower (MIT Press, 2004).

Harper's work has been recognized with grants by the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Joyce Foundation. He has presented his research across the United States and the globe, from the American Ornithologists Union in Quebec to the International Ornithological Congress in New Zealand. His work has been published in the American Naturalist, Environmental Pollution, Chemosphere, Journal of Field Ornithology, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, Journal of Avian Biology, Ecology and Behavioral Ecology.

Named 1986

Robert Bray, R. Forrest Colwell Chair of English

Established in 1972 to honor R. Forrest Colwell, businessman, philanthropist and trustee

Named the R. Forrest Colwell Chair of English in 1986, Robert Bray's name is one of 35 engraved on the state library, honoring him as an historic Illinois author. An expert of Caribbean literature and 19th-century American literature, he is known for his award-winning book on Peter Cartwright, a dynamic frontier preacher, political opponent of Abraham Lincoln, and one of Illinois Wesleyan's founders. He won praise from Lincoln scholars with his recent book, Reading with Lincoln (Southern Illinois University Press, 2010).

Joining the Illinois Wesleyan faculty in 1970, Bray received a doctorate from the University of Chicago. A crusader for academic integrity, Bray has been active in state organizations promoting education and chaired the Read Illinois program. He has been honored with many fellowships and grants, including those from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Illinois Humanities Council.

Named 1990

Jonathan Dey, Miner Linnaeus Sherff Professor of Botany

Established in 1977 to honor the extraordinary generosity of the Sherff family

Jonathan Dey was named the Sherff Professor of Botany in 1990. He has traveled the country in his studies of botany. A graduate of Oregon State and Duke universities, his doctoral research centered on lichens of high mountain areas of the Southern Appalachians, which led him to Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia. He has discovered, described and named several lichens.

Dey was a member of a scientific team developing a model using lichens as an indicator in monitoring the air quality in forest ecosystems in the middle Atlantic and southeastern United States as part of the National Forest Health Monitoring Program. He now works on contributing to the macrolichen inventory of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as part of the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) of the Park.

Named 2011

Carole Myscofski, McFee Professor of Religion

Established in 1984 from the estate of Daisy McFee to honor her family

Named to the McFee Professorship in 2011, Carole Myscofski's scholarly works have been honored with numerous grants and fellowships, including two from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award. She was honored in 2001 with Illinois Wesleyan's top award for teaching excellence.

Myscofski's research interests include women's religious lives in colonial Brazil, for which she has traveled to Brazil and El Salvador. Her work has appeared in such journals as History of Religions, Religion, Journal of Latin American Lore, Luso-Brazilian Review, Journal of Ritual Studies, and the Journal for Feminist Studies in Religion. She has contributed chapters to books including the Social History and Issues in Consciousness (New York University Press, 1989), and created scholarly entries for the Dictionary of Religion by HarperCollins, Encyclopedia of Latin American History by Charles Scribner's Sons, and the Micropedia of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Myscofski has served as an editor for the American Academy of Religion Academy (Dissertation) Series, published by Scholars Press and the Oxford University Press; and for the HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion.

Named 1989

Michael Seeborg, Robert S. Eckley Professor of Economics

Established in 1986 to honor Robert S. Eckley, University president 1968-86

Named the Eckley Professor of Economics in 1989, Michael C. Seeborg is the author of numerous articles in the field of labor economics. His research interests are varied and include work on the economics of immigration, the economics of poverty and the economics of sports. He teaches many courses at all levels that focus on economic research, including the economics capstone senior project course, a May Term course on applied research in labor economics, and Gateway Colloquia for first-year students. His work is known on an international level, where he has studied agricultural economics in Poland and urban and rural population migration patterns in China.

Seeborg received the University's top teaching award in 1999. He helped establish two student-edited undergraduate economics journals at Illinois Wesleyan: The Park Place Economist takes submissions from Illinois Wesleyan students, and The Undergraduate Economic Review is an online publication that receives submissions from economics students around the world. Seeborg also is known for his emphasis on active learning, and often requires that students produce original research papers and encourages them to present their research in various venues, including the IWU John Wesley Powell Research Conference. 

Named 2008

Ram Mohan, Earl H. and Marian A. Beling Professor of Natural Sciences

Established by the Belings in 1998 in recognition of the quality of Illinois Wesleyan faculty

Ram Mohan was named to the Beling Professorship in 2008. He has received multiple research grants from the National Science Foundation, the American Chemical Society and from Research Corporation.

Mohan was recognized for co-authoring an article in the international journal Tetrahedron that became one of the 50 most-cited articles from 2004-07. In 2003 he received the Young Observer Award from the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. Mohan was the 2002 winner of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Distinguished Alumnus Award; a 2001 winner of the national Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar award; and a recipient of Faculty Travel Awards from The American Chemical Society in 1997 and 1999.

Mohan has co-authored numerous articles with Illinois Wesleyan undergraduates as co-authors, and a 2007 article was recognized internationally as an innovative study of the reactivity of ionic liquids.

Named 2010

Carolyn Nadeau, Byron S. Tucci Professor and Professor of Hispanic Studies

Established in 2010 by Byron S. Tucci '66 as part of the Transforming Lives Campaign