Photo: Lauren Rule Maxwell, Ph.D. (left) and Kristen Hefner, Ph.D. (middle) stand beside Brian Madison Jones, Ph.D., dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (right) as they accept their awards.
The Citadel’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences celebrated the end of the school year by giving out two awards to faculty members and honoring some long-time professors who retired recently.
Lauren Rule Maxwell, Ph.D., received the Emery-Mathis Award for Teaching Excellence. Maxwell is a professor and the associate director of The Citadel Distinguished Scholars Program. She joined The Citadel faculty in 2008 and teaches classes in American and contemporary literature as well as several writing courses. Maxwell serves as the president of the Margaret Atwood Society and previously was the director of the Lowcountry Writing Project. The Emery-Mathis Award – which helps recognize the great value provided by the School of Humanities and Social Sciences – is named for previous Citadel faculty members and is sponsored by Charles Corbin, ’75.
Additionally, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences Distinguished Service Award was awarded to Kristen Hefner, Ph.D. Hefner is a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at The Citadel. Her primary research and teaching interests include victimology, violence against women and children and human trafficking.
“The faculty at The Citadel is the competitive edge of an institution of higher education. It is my great pleasure, and one of the critical aspects of my work as dean, to find ways to support faculty in their challenging, rigorous and intensive work to train the next generation of principal leaders,” said Brian Madison Jones, Ph.D., dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. “These awards are one small part of the school’s effort to ensure that our faculty know how much they are valued, how much their colleagues and their students support them and how much this institution relies on their continued excellence.”
In addition to the awards, the event recognized the contributions of four retirees who dedicated decades of service to The Citadel. Guy Toubiana, Ph.D., started teaching at The Citadel in 1993 and was formerly the head of the Department of Modern Languages. Toubiana taught French and Spanish. Terry Mays, Ph.D., began his career here in 1992 as a professor of Political Science. Mays is also a retired lieutenant colonel with the Army Reserve. Steve Nida, Ph.D., taught at The Citadel since 2002 as a professor of Psychology. He was the former head of the Department of Psychology from 2002-2009 and again from 2012-2018. Kerry Lassiter, Ph.D., came to The Citadel in 1996, after completing post doctorate training in neuropsychology, and has served as a professor of Psychology ever since. In addition to teaching, Lassiter is a licenses professional counselor and professional counselor supervisor. The Citadel’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences thanks these four retirees for their years of dedication and service to the college and for helping further the mission of educating and developing principled leaders.
The new building for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences will be open for classes in the fall of 2023. This building was made possible through generous donations from Citadel alumni and supporters.
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