ATLANTA – Through a grant of more than $500,000 from the Clare Boothe Luce Program, Agnes Scott College has named its first Luce professor, and in doing so also has added another female faculty member to its department of physics and astronomy.
Amy C. Sullivan, a doctoral candidate in physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has been selected as the Clare Boothe Luce assistant professor of physics at Agnes Scott. The college received a five-year, $579,988 award to support this new tenure-track faculty position.
The award from the Clare Boothe Luce Program is intended to provide Sullivan with an unusually positive pre-tenure experience for a beginning female faculty member through a competitive starting salary, a discretionary fund for research support and a reduced teaching load during the five years of external funding.
“Amy's expertise in experimental physics, her keen interest in teaching, her gentle manner and quiet brilliance will add sparkle to an already exemplary Department of Physics and Astronomy,” said Rosemary Lévy Zumwalt, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college.
Sullivan graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in physics from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and holds a master's degree in physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her skills in optics and experimental physics will complement the existing expertise in theoretical physics and observational astrophysics at Agnes Scott. She will teach introductory and advanced undergraduate courses and will be responsible for development and improvement of advanced undergraduate laboratory courses.
When Agnes Scott students met Sullivan, they immediately asked if she could teach an optics course next year. Amy Lovell, associate professor and chair of physics and astronomy, is excited about the ways Sullivan will enrich the college’s science offerings.
“The addition of Amy Sullivan to our department will enable us to enhance the curriculum with higher-level laboratory experiences for the students,” Lovell said. “The opportunity for more hands-on physics is important to reinforce learning. The students are all very excited about our new faculty member.”
Based in New York City, the program that supports the professorship is named for Clare Boothe Luce. She was a playwright, journalist, U.S. ambassador to Italy and the first woman elected to Congress from Connecticut. She was married to publisher Henry R. Luce.
The Clare Boothe Luce Program of the Henry Luce Foundation is the largest source of private support for women in science, engineering and mathematics. The program encourages young women to achieve distinction in the fields of science, engineering and mathematics, where traditionally there have been obstacles to their advancement.
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