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The University greeted 45 new faculty and administrators at an Aug. 8 luncheon. Welcoming the newcomers was Dr. Shirley Baugher,
in one of her first duties as provost and vice president for academic affairs.
Dr. Shirley Baugher |
Baugher encouraged the faculty to immerse themselves in the rich traditions and rituals of BGSU and to have fun “beginning
or continuing your own legend.”
A faculty member in the School of Family and Consumer Sciences as well as provost, she in turn was introduced by Dr. Deborah
Wooldridge, director of the school, who had previously known Baugher professionally. Wooldridge noted that Baugher is well
known in her field both in the United States and in such countries as Egypt, Russia, China, Mexico, Thailand, Northern Ireland,
Brazil and Peru.
“She’s about strategic planning, organizational management, setting directions and an agenda, and about vision,” Wooldridge
said of the new provost.
Other new administrators included Thomas Atwood, dean of University Libraries, and Dr. James Maxwell, chair of visual communication
and technology education.
With specialties ranging from algebraic ring theory to digital crime, the new faculty included newly minted Ph.D.s and seasoned
professionals.
Introductions revealed that even among the younger faculty, there already exists a considerable body of scholarly activity.
Dr. Scott Magelssen, for example, in theatre and film, is a specialist in living history museums and this year published Living History Museums: Undoing History through Performance. A second book, Querying Difference in Theatre History, a collection of essays he is co-editing, will be published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing later this year. Winner of the
American Society of Theatre Research Young Scholar Award, Magelssen is currently researching the way the military uses theatre
and performance to train soldiers for counterinsurgency and nation-building in Iraq.
The new faculty also were welcomed by President Sidney Ribeau, who celebrated the “community of like-minded people,” so critical
to solving problems in a civilized world, he said. “If there weren’t universities in the world,” he added, “we’d have to create
them.”
Faculty Senate Chair Dr. Patrick Pauken urged the group to become involved in shared governance, noting that it is one of
the most rewarding activities an academic can engage in. Bowling Green is small enough for many to participate yet large enough
to offer many opportunities, he said.
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