Dr. Jennifer M. Collins took office today as the 21st president of Rhodes College. She joins the national liberal arts college after serving as the Judge James Noel Dean and professor of law at Southern Methodist University in Texas. “I am truly honored to be joining the incredible community at Rhodes College today,” says President Collins. “I am very much looking forward to partnering with our wonderful faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community partners in the great city of Memphis to enhance the outstanding educational experience we provide and champion our commitments to service and inclusive excellence.”

Rhodes College is being awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Research grant in the amount of $639,165 to continue research performed by Professor of Chemistry Loretta Jackson-Hayes and Professor of Biology Terry Hill with students in their labs. The research explores cell growth and division of fungi and has potential to find more effective antifungal drugs.

Twenty Rhodes College students recently immersed themselves in the sights and sounds of Ecuador through the SPAN 209/309: Spanish in Latin America course taught by Dr. Eric Henager and Dr. Bruce Milton Jackson Jr. of Rhodes Spanish Studies, in coordination with professors from Ecuador.

Rhodes College art history alumna Robyn Barrow ’15 has been selected as a recipient of the prestigious Paul Mellon Fellowship awarded by the National Gallery of Art’s Center for Advanced Study of the Visual Arts. She will begin the fellowship Fall 2022, spending two years doing fieldwork abroad before her residency in Washington, DC.

A team of three rising seniors at Rhodes—Thu-Trang Nguyen, Jana Turner, and Jiaxuan (Jade) Yang—recently earned the second-place prize of $500 in a data visualization contest for college students presented by the National Institute of Statistical Sciences. The Rhodes submission for the national competition was part of a midterm project in the Math 235: Data Visualization course taught by Dr. Erika David Parr in spring 2022.

Rhodes has landed on Money’s Best Colleges in America 2022. Editors of the magazine spent months evaluating data on quality, affordability, and student outcomes of more than 600 four-year colleges across the country. Rhodes also is among the magazine’s top 50 Best Colleges in the South.

Rhodes College recently paid tribute to staff at its annual Staff Recognition Brunch, and four Rhodes employees received the college’s 2022 Outstanding Staff Awards based on nominations submitted by faculty, staff, and students. They are Sherry Sasson, Tina NeSmith, Jennifer J.B. Bone, Tina NeSmith, and Martha McGeachy.

Linda Bonnin, senior vice president for marketing and strategic communications at Abilene Christian University, has been named vice president for marketing and communications at Rhodes College. She will assume the role on July 5, after President-elect Jennifer Collins takes office. Bonnin will head the college’s newly formed Division of Marketing and Communications and serve on the Senior Leadership Team, providing high-level strategic direction to advance the visibility and reputation of the Rhodes brand and to achieve the college’s strategic objectives.

Annual awards were presented at the 173rd Commencement Exercises of Rhodes College held May 14 on campus. Natalie L. Smith received the Peyton Nalle Rhodes Phi Beta Kappa Prize. The college presented Rhodes professors Dr. Gary J. Lindquester and Dr. Michael Drompp each the Distinguished Service Medal. The 2022 Algernon Sydney Sullivan Awards were presented to graduating seniors Mi’Destini Victorian and Dulce Maria Salcedo and Christy Weir Krueger ’85 of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Mid-South.

Financial expert and community leader Vicki R. Palmer ’75 of Atlanta, GA, will receive an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree at the 173rd Commencement of Rhodes College on Saturday, May 14. Palmer is president of The Palmer Group LLC, a general management consulting company which she started after retiring from Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. in 2009 as executive vice president for financial services and administration. Her career with Coca-Cola spanned more than 25 years.