Endowed Chairs

The Charles A. Dana Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies

The Dana Professorship is the longest-standing endowed chair program at Bates. In 1966 the Charles A. Dana Foundation of New York awarded the college a matching grant to establish an endowed professorship fund that would recognize exceptional teacher-scholars among the Bates faculty. The first Dana professor was named in 1968. Over the next half century, a distinguished group of faculty members has been honored with Dana professorships and recognized for their exemplary teaching, the value of their research, and their service to the college. Dana professors may hail from any discipline, underscoring the depth of talent of the Bates faculty.

Rebecca M. Herzig, Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies

Professor Herzig arrived at Bates in 1998 as an assistant professor of Women’s Studies (now Gender and Sexuality Studies) after completing her PhD in Science and Technology Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that same year. Once at Bates, Dr. Herzig established herself as a scholar of technology and society with a particular focus on race and gender. She is the co-editor of the Feminist Technoseries book series published by the University of Washington Press and her most recent book is the critically acclaimed Plucked: A History of Hair Removal. She is currently working on a new book with the working title of Contact Hours. Dr. Herzig’s teaching contributes to the core curriculum of the Gender and Sexuality Studies program with her upper level courses focusing on technology and society as well as the study of higher education. Dr. Herzig regularly contributes to the governance of the college through service on multiple governance committees including the Committee on Faculty Governance and the Academic Affairs Council, as department and program chair, and on ad hoc committees. It was in the latter role that she led an effort to write the college’s current mission statement in 2010.