Three Rhodes faculty members have joined the Office of Academic Affairs, which is dedicated to empowering a community of strong teacher-scholars and developing transformative programs and experiences for a talented student body. They are Dr. Tim Huebner, associate provost; Dr. Natalie Person, dean for curricular development; and Dr. Amy Jasperson, dean for faculty development. They assumed their new roles July 1.
Says Dr. Milton Moreland, provost and vice president for academic affairs: “Our office is committed to ensuring that all Rhodes faculty have the resources they need to thrive as teachers and scholars. Tim, Natalie, and Amy are skilled teachers and award-winning scholars. They have a strong desire to support the college’s mission and help develop a learning environment that is exceptional for all of our students. I am extremely grateful to them for their willingness to serve in these important administrative roles.”
More about the new staff:
Tim Huebner, the Irma O. Sternberg Professor of History and a specialist in the constitutional and legal history of the American South, has been at Rhodes for 24 years. He teaches a variety of courses dealing with the history of the U.S. Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era. In 2004, Huebner was named Tennessee Professor of the Year by The Council for Advancement and Support of Education and The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He also is a recipient of Rhodes’ Clarence Day Award for Outstanding Teaching and the Jameson Jones Award for Outstanding Service. He founded and directed the Rhodes Institute for Regional Studies, and he served for six years as chair of the Department of History. Huebner is the author or editor of four books, including Liberty and Union: The Civil War Era and American Constitutionalism (2016).
Natalie Person, professor of psychology and chair of educational studies, came to Rhodes in 1994. During her tenure, she has led the efforts to offer an educational studies major, which obtained a state-approved licensure component in 2016, and a master of arts in urban education that began in summer of 2018. Person has distinguished herself as a faculty leader serving as chair of psychology for nine years and on numerous committees, serving as the chair of the Faculty Governance Committee, Educational Programs Committee, and Standards and Standing Committee, and she has represented the faculty on the Board of Trustees as a Faculty Trustee. She has received numerous federal grant awards from the National Science Foundation, The Institute for Defense Analyses, the Institute for Education Sciences, the Office of Naval Research, and the U.S. Congress, along with additional state and private foundation grants. She also has published extensively in peer-reviewed psychology, education, computer science, and learning sciences journals and conference proceedings. Person was a recipient of the Clarence Day Award for Outstanding Research, and in 2017, she received Rhodes’ Jameson M. Jones Award for Outstanding Faculty Service.
Amy Jasperson, associate professor and chair of political science, joined the faculty in 2012. She was the recipient of multiple teaching awards, including a Regents Outstanding Teaching Award, at her prior institution. Her teaching and research interests focus on American politics, political communication, public opinion, and political psychology. Students in Jasperson’s classes have participated in research involving young voters’ responses to political campaign messages through media. Jasperson served on a Rhodes team working with faculty at other liberal arts colleges to identify best practices in core curricula and to communicate the value of a liberal arts education to wider audiences. She also has served as a Faculty Trustee, a member of the strategic planning steering committee, and an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in the U.S. Senate.