Six faculty members received promotions at the June meeting of the Knox College Board of Trustees. Todd Heidt, modern languages (German), and Weihong Du, Asian studies (Chinese), received tenure and were promoted to associate professor. Greg Gilbert, art and art history, was promoted to the rank of full professor.

In addition, three members of the faculty were promoted to emeritus status:

• R. Lance Factor, George Appleton Lawrence Distinguished Professor of Philosophy; at Knox since 1969
• George Steckley, Robert M. and Katherne A. Seeley Distinguished Professor of History; at Knox since 1973
• Jon Wagner, Anthropology; at Knox since 1973

"Congratulations to each of these members of the Knox faculty on this milestone in their careers," said Knox College President Teresa Amott. "And a special thanks to our new Emeriti for their distinguished service to Knox."

Todd Heidt, Modern Languages and Literatures (German)

Todd Heidt teaches a variety of courses in German language and culture, including late 19th and 20th century German literature and culture, film and visual culture, narratology, and media. "The courses I teach are often media rich, bringing a variety of sources to students to spark their interest." Along with colleagues, he developed the December travel-study program Modern European Identities: Berlin and Istanbul, supported by a DAAD Group Study Visit Grant. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Cincinnati; M.A. at the University of Chicago; and his B.A. at the University of Cincinnati. He has been at Knox since 2009.

Weihong Du, Asian Studies (Chinese)

Weihong Du's primary area of research is on cross-cultural interactions between China and the West during the 1930s. "The most interesting thing about this topic is how it provides such a penetrating tool for defining the past and how it sheds light even on contemporary cross-cultural interactions." Her teaching focuses on modern and contemporary Chinese language, literature, and culture; Chinese film; women and modern Chinese literature; and Chinese popular culture. This fall, Du will serve as the onsite ACM-Shanghai program faculty director. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Chinese from the University of Minnesota and B.A. and M.A. in Chinese Language and Literature from Nanjing University, China. She has been at Knox since 2009.

Gregory Gilbert, Art & Art History

As director of the art history program, Gregory Gilbert's area of research focuses on modern and contemporary American art, specifically contextual and theoretical issues associated with the Abstract Expressionist, Neo-Dada, and Pop Art movements. "I am particularly interested in studying the intersection of these artistic tendencies with forms of mass visual culture, as well as their relation to trends in American philosophical thought." In 2002, he was awarded the Philip Green Wright/Lombard College Prize for Distinguished Teaching and he served as senior curator at the Figge Art Museum from 2009-2011. He was named a 2015 Dedalus Foundation Visiting Scholar at the Archives of American Art Fellowship and will be doing archival research this summer in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and later in Washington. Gilbert earned his M.A. and Ph.D. at Rutgers University and his B.F.A. at the University of Kansas. He has been at Knox since 1995.