Jessica Rettig

Jessica Rettig and Geoffrey Smith, associate professors of biology at Denison, were honored at today’s Academic Awards Convocation as the new holders of the college’s Henry Chisholm Chair in the Natural Sciences.

University President Dale Knobel said of Rettig and Smith, “The new holders of the Chisholm Chair exemplify success in all three areas of the criteria for receiving the chair. Their teaching is discussion-based and interactive, promoting student-driven explorations and self-designed laboratory components that colleagues call highly successful and worthy of imitation. Each is an active scholar with frequent publications in peer-reviewed journals, reflecting active peer collaborations in their field. They also have been active in service to the college on governance committees, in numerous departmental roles, collaborative institutional grants, and coordination of Denison’s recent accreditation visit by the North Central Association.”

Rettig, a faculty member at Denison since 2000, earned her bachelor’s degree in biology at Earlham College (1991) and her doctorate in zoology and ecology at Michigan State University (1999). Her areas of interest include the ecology of small ponds.

Smith, a faculty member at Denison since 2000, earned his bachelor’s degree in biology at Earlham College (1990) and his doctorate in ecology and organismal biology at University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1995). His areas of interest include amphibians and reptiles.

Geoff Smith

The Chisholm Chair in the Natural Sciences is one of Denison’s oldest chairs, having been established in the 1880s. The criteria for holders of this chair include that they be model teachers and scholars who have made substantial contributions to the wider mission of the college.

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement, and the cultivation of independent thinking.