Whitworth Honors Rev. Mary Jane Miles and Installs Professor Megan Hershey as the Amy M. Ryan Endowed Chair at Spring Convocation
President Scott McQuilkin will offer a welcome and will then be joined by Provost & Executive Vice President John Pell to install Megan Hershey, Ph.D., professor of political science, as the university’s Amy M. Ryan Endowed Professor.
Hershey began teaching at Whitworth in 2011. Her research is centered on civil society in East Africa. She has co-led Whitworth’s semester-long Tanzania Study Program. During her tenure in the Amy M. Ryan endowed professorship, Hershey plans to travel to Kenya to meet with leaders of recent Gen Z protests and explore the gender dynamics of the movement, as well as the ways faith threads through the protesters’ efforts.
Following the installation, the president and provost will present the Distinguished Ministry Leadership Award to the Rev. Mary Jane Miles, D.Min. Miles serves two churches as an ordained Presbyterian minister and is serving her second term on the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee. She has ministered on the Navajo Reservation at Tuba City, Ariz., as well as the Tohono O’odham Reservation at Sells, Ariz. Miles has worked tirelessly to serve the elderly and families with Save the Children, the Nez Perce Tribe’s Senior Citizens Program, the Southern California Indian Center and the reservation library, and has also been a counselor at the Lapwai clinic.
Professor Emeritus of History Dale Soden will present on “World War II and Whitworth College,” followed by the convocation address, “Angels in the Architecture,” presented by Pell.
For those who cannot attend convocation in person, the event will be livestreamed here
About Whitworth University:
Located in Spokane, Wash., Whitworth is a private Christian liberal arts university affiliated with the Presbyterian church. The university, which has an enrollment of about 2,500 students, offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
Contacts:
Trisha Coder, associate director of media relations, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4703 or tcoder@whitworth.edu.
