The Colby-Sawyer Board of Trustees voted to grant faculty promotions to two members of the Social Sciences and Education Department during its February meeting. It also voted to grant faculty emeriti status to two educators who have had a significant impact on academic life at Colby-Sawyer.

Associate Professors R. Todd Coy and Lynn J. Garrioch were both promoted to the rank of professor.

Professor Coy joined Colby-Sawyer in 2005. He teaches courses in biological psychology, drugs and behavior, human sexuality, research methods and statistics. His general research interests include the biological basis of behavior and psychopharmacology including nicotine and caffeine. Professor Coy holds a B.A. from University of Houston – University Park, an M.A. from University of Houston – Clear Lake and a Ph.D. from Tufts University.

Professor Garrioch, who came to Colby-Sawyer in 2001, has a special interest in social psychology, personality psychology and the psychology of women. Her teaching interests include social psychology, introduction to psychology, adolescence, cross-cultural psychology, and psychology and the law. Her research interests include eye-witness testimony and jury deliberations. She holds a B.A. from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Victoria in British Columbia.

“The rank of professor signals that a faculty member has been teaching for a minimum of 12 years, demonstrated leadership in service to the campus or his or her discipline, and has engaged in a meaningful body of scholarship,” Academic Vice President and Dean of Faculty Laura A. Sykes said. “We benefit from the mentorship our professors provide for their colleagues and students.”

The faculty emeriti status is an honor bestowed in recognition of a professor’s lifetime contributions to an institution, their field or both. To achieve the status at Colby-Sawyer, an individual must have served as a full-time member of the faculty for 12 years or more and be recommended to the Board of Trustees by the academic vice president and dean of faculty, with the concurrence of the department chair and the president. Faculty emeriti retain faculty privileges and nonvoting membership in the faculty of the college for life.

Chief Nursing Executive for Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health System and Executive Vice President for Dartmouth-Hitchcock Research & Education Susan Reeves ’88 and Interim Chair and Professor of Natural and Environmental Sciences Benjamin Steele were appointed to the status of faculty emeriti.

Dr. Reeves returned to her alma mater in 2003 to teach biomedical ethics after serving as an operating vice president at Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H). Joining the faculty fulltime in 2007, she was chair of the nursing department and later dean of Colby-Sawyer’s School of Nursing and Health Professions to build healthcare programs that would distinguish the college’s nursing programs. She also strengthened Colby-Sawyer’s 30-year partnership with D-H. In 2016, Reeves was promoted to full professor. That same year, then Governor Maggie Hassan recognized her expertise by appointing her to the Governor’s Commission on Health Care Workforce. Reeves holds a B.S. in nursing from Colby-Sawyer College, an M.S. in nursing administration from the University of New Hampshire and an Ed.D. from the University of Vermont.

Professor Steele’s teaching interests spans ecology, evolution, animal behavior and environmental studies, and he often incorporates the natural environment of New London and surrounding areas into his lessons. Steele, who joined the faculty in 1988, has spent years researching bird behavior and population studies, especially that of migrating birds and sea ducks. He also regularly engages students in his research, even inviting them to Finland for summer research trips. Professor Steele also represents Colby-Sawyer on the NH-INBRE steering committee. In 2012, he was named the M. Roy London Endowed Chair, held by a faculty member whose work and vocation combine excellence in teaching with an influential and attentive persona on campus and in the wider community. He holds B.S. degree from Harvard, an M.S. degree from Utah State and a Ph.D. from Dartmouth College.

“Professors Reeves and Steele join the company of 24 emeriti faculty who remain in contact with and follow the college with interest,” said Vice President Sykes. “This dedicated group of individuals has left a lasting impact on our current students and alumni, and their long-standing engagement with the college is one of the hallmarks of a Colby-Sawyer College education. “