Faculty

Wellesley's faculty includes world-renowned scholars and researchers who are dedicated to teaching and to your success. Last year, more than 40 faculty members received grants recognizing innovation and teaching from a wide variety of organizations, including NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, the American Mathematical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association of University Women, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and others.

Only professors teach courses at Wellesley—there are no teaching assistants. They make the classroom come alive with innovative teaching techniques, interactive and engaging discussions, and creative assignments and research projects that use the latest in instructional technologies.

To facilitate the learning process, faculty members go to great lengths to break down barriers between professor and student. Many professors pride themselves on the time they spend getting to know you–your academic strengths and weaknesses, your activities, the sports in which you participate, your interests, and your aspirations.

For example:

• Thomas Peter Hodge, associate professor of Russian, takes his students on field trips to New York to hear the Philharmonic perform the works of Russian composers. He also gives Halloween night readings in the residence halls and offers informal outdoor lectures on the game fish of the College’s Lake Waban.
• Mary Mennes Allen, Jean Glasscock Professor of Biological Sciences, is as famous for her innovative research and student mentoring as she is for her backyard barbecues with her students.
• Alan Henry Schechter, professor of political science and chairman of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, keeps an active Rolodex on former students and is regarded as a valuable resource in providing undergraduates with recommendations for job and graduate school placements.
• Karl E. (Chip) Case, professor of economics, is a virtual one-man pep club for Wellesley athletics. He not only is a regular on the sidelines, but also helps the athletics department reach out to promising high school athletes.