The designations were announced during an event recognizing the achievements of faculty and staff.
Beloit College recognized the contributions of seven faculty and staff members with emeriti honors during a virtual event in May.
Among the faculty retiring are Nancy Krusko, who joined Beloit in 1989 and was the William S. Godfrey Professor of Anthropology. A longtime department chair and a passionate teacher, she spent many years as a McNair Scholars mentor and helped develop Beloit’s interdisciplinary major in health and society. Her research and teaching interests include nonhuman primate behavior, the interaction of biology and culture on health, and the application of biological anthropology to current issues.
Professor of HistoryBeatrice McKenzie held the William and Gayle Keefer Professor of Public Humanities from 2017-20. She is a past recipient of the Underkofler Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award, a top teaching honor originating from student nominations. Since joining Beloit in 2006, she quickly became a beloved teacher and modeled public service by tutoring people preparing for the U.S. citizenship exam and through her service with the League of Women Voters. Her teaching and research have focused on U.S. citizenship, immigration, race, and gender.
William New, professor of education and youth studies, joined Beloit’s faculty in 1997 and chaired the department for many years. He has been a multi-year mentor in Beloit’s Sanger Summer Scholars and McNair Scholars programs and received the Kang Prize for innovation in 2006. He has published and spoken extensively about students at the margins and the institutions that teach them, including as a noted expert on Roma education in Central Europe and beyond.
Professor and Chair of Critical Identity StudiesCatherine Orr came to Beloit in 1998 and led that program through a period of dramatic growth and evolution into a national model. She was a multi-year McNair Scholars mentor, was Beloit’s director of equity initiatives, and served on the Decolonizing Pedagogies Project leadership team, developing equity-based leaders at Beloit. She has co-edited two books on Rethinking Women’s and Gender Studies and is at work on a third, focusing on identity-based studies as justice projects.
Professor of MathematicsRanjan Roy joined Beloit’s faculty in 1982. When he died in August 2020, he was the Ralph C. Huffer Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy and chair of the mathematics and computer science department. He was an inspirational teacher and an active scholar, writing four advanced mathematics books among other projects. He was named Teacher of the Year in 1986 and 2000. In 2003, the Mathematical Association of America honored him with the Haimo Award, its highest teaching honor. He received the emeriti honor posthumously.
Elizabeth Brewer has directed Beloit’s Office of International Education since 2002. Under her leadership, the college expanded and integrated international programming, which earned Beloit major recognition in 2011 with the Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization from NAFSA: Association of International Educators. She has overseen study abroad programs and domestic off-campus programs, international student advising and support, and helped improve policies, curricular development, and evaluation of international programs. She has co-edited four books, including Education Abroad and the Undergraduate Experience.
College Archivist Fred Burwell’86 is the third archivist in Beloit’s 175-year history. Over a 34-year career, in addition to curating and caring for Beloit’s collection, he has co-taught many courses, collaborated with countless faculty, students, alumni, and community members on historical research, developed a diary repository, and brought college history to life with Fridays with Fred, a series of stories from Archives that reaches a broad audience. From 2010-2016, he produced more than 150 of these popular sketches.
