Press Release

CONTACT: Debra Humphreys
(202) 387-3760
E-mail: humphreys@aacu.org

AAC&U Appoints New Visiting Scientist Spencer A. Benson and New Senior Fellow Pearl W. Bartelt

Washington, DC—June 30, 2003—The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) announced today the appointment of a new visiting scientist, Spencer A. Benson, and a new senior fellow, Pearl W. Bartelt.

Spencer A. Benson, associate professor of cell biology and molecular genetics at the University of Maryland, College Park, will serve as the visiting scientist assisting in AAC&U's Office of Science, Health, and Student Engagement on the national initiative, Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER). Benson received his B.S. degree in Zoology from the University of Vermont and his Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Chicago. His research, which involves undergraduate students, focuses on characterization of biopharmalogical activities in Chinese herbal medicines. Benson also researches science education, focusing on alternative pedagogies and science courses designed for non-science majors. He has published extensively on issues of pedagogy and faculty development and has served as a faculty consultant on several K-16 education initiatives in Maryland.

“We are very pleased to have Spencer Benson join the SENCER team. He will be increasing our capacity to help our members encourage students to consider careers in science education and explore how the SENCER approach can improve pre-service teacher education. We are extremely fortunate to have Spencer's talents and energy devoted to improving science education in secondary schools and college,” said Wm. David Burns, senior policy director and director of the SENCER initiative.

As visiting scientist, Benson joins Marion Field Fass, who was appointed AAC&U visiting scientist for the 2002-03 academic year. Fass holds a B.A. in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and a Sc.D. in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. She is associate professor of biology at Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin. She recently edited a collection of educational activities called “Microbes Count!” for the BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium, a program based at Beloit that supports reform of the undergraduate biology curriculum. Fass continues to coordinate SENCER work with the program's African partners.

Pearl Bartelt has been involved in AAC&U projects and initiatives for the past decade, during which she has served as an academic administrator at two AAC&U member schools, Rowan University, in New Jersey, and Central Connecticut State University. While at Rowan, she participated in AAC&U's Re-forming Undergraduate Arts and Sciences Majors project and helped facilitate the proposal leading to Rowan's participation in AAC&U's Women and Scientific Literacy initiative. At Central Connecticut State University, where she most recently held the post of provost and vice president for academic affairs, Bartelt developed the proposal that led to that institution being named one of the sixteen leadership institutions that form AAC&U's Greater Expectations Consortium on Quality Education. During her term as AAC&U senior fellow, Bartelt will assist AAC&U staff as it identifies and disseminates promising practices related to the initiative, Greater Expectations: The Commitment to Quality as a Nation Goes to College. She will also work on publications forthcoming from the initiative.

Bartelt earned the Ph.D. degree in Sociology from The Ohio State University in 1972. Her areas of scholarly work include Communal Studies and Women's Studies. She has been president of the International Communal Studies Association where she remains a board member.

AAC&U is the leading national association devoted to advancing and strengthening liberal learning for all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Since its founding in 1915, AAC&U's membership has grown to more than 1000 accredited public and private colleges and universities of every type and size.

AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators, and faculty members who are engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Its mission is to reinforce the collective commitment to liberal education at both the national and local levels and to help individual institutions keep the quality of student learning at the core of their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges.

Information about AAC&U membership, programs and publications can be found at www.aacu.org.