Rose-Hulman Appoints ‘Teaching Excellence’ Chair

The inaugural Alfred R. Schmidt Chair for Excellence in Teaching at Rose-Hulman is political science professor Terrence Casey. The new program acknowledges faculty members committed to furthering their fields of study. 

1969 Rose-Hulman alumnus G. Felda Hardymon endowed the new faculty chair by auctioning off his customized McLaren P1 hypercar in the spring of last year, which resulted in $2.39 million.

“I am surrounded at Rose-Hulman by some of the finest educators in the world,” said Casey, a member of the Rose-Hulman faculty since 2000. “Given this, I am both surprised and honored to have been selected as the inaugural chair.”

The new faculty chair will help support classroom learning experiences and provide opportunities for engagement of other scholars during the three-year term. Casey will focus on courses involving first year international curriculum, including faculty-led study abroad courses beginning in summer of 2021. 

“I regularly remind our students that engineers design for the real world, not the classroom or the lab. To do that effectively you need to fully understand the people inhabiting that world, with all of their foibles and complexities,” said Casey. “I am delighted that I have the opportunity to work to expand the number of faculty-led study abroad courses, providing our students with many more opportunities to integrate international experiences into their engineering education.”

The focal point of Casey’s research is British politics, and he has served as President of the British Politics Group of the American Political Science Association. He is also currently writing a book on the rise of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.