The Hope College Deans' Council and Status Committee announced that four faculty were named to endowed positions. The campus community congratulates these faculty members for their phenomenal work and service to the institution and its students.
In addition to recognizing faculty members for excellence, endowed professorships provide faculty with enhanced opportunities to pursue scholarly research and creative activities. Currently Hope College has a total of 27 endowed professorships for faculty. The newest four faculty members honored include:
Dr. Kate French began her career teaching high school science in Dallas before joining Hope in the
Department of Education in 2024. She was named the Irwin B. and Margie E. Floyd Associate
Professor of Education. French studies best practices about teaching in urban schools.
As a critical theorist in the field of education, she scrutinizes the intersections
of power, privilege and oppression in teacher development — and how policies, processes
and sociocultural contexts influence how pre-service teachers and novice teachers
learn and later put their learning into practice. French’s courses include foundations
of education, secondary principles, and clinical experience for secondary principles.
The Irwin B. and Margie E. Floyd Endowed Professorship is given to faculty members in Hope’s Department of Education by Mrs. Margie E. Floyd, in honor of her parents and husband who provided advanced education opportunities for loved ones. This professorship is held by a faculty member in the Department of Education who has a distinguished career as a teacher-scholar and mentor.
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Dr. Sarah Kornfield is a professor of communication and the director of the women’s and gender studies
program. She also serves as program director for the GRACE project (Growing through
Respectful and Civil Exchange). She was named the Guy Vander Jagt ’53 Professor of Communication, an award given to a distinguished faculty member who has a special interest in oratory
or the interface between politics and communication. Kornfield began at Hope in 2015
and teaches courses in rhetorical criticism, rhetorical theory, feminist theory, gender
communication and television culture. Her research primarily focuses on how gender
is performed, produced and constructed in the United States.
This Guy Vander Jagt ’53 Endowed Professorship was established by friends of the Hon. Guy Vander Jagt ’53 as an expression of their appreciation for his distinguished leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives and his dedication to the ideals and values that have been a strength of our nation. Vander Jagt was a student leader and distinguished orator while at Hope and won national acclaim as an orator. He served in the U.S. Congress from 1966-1992 as Representative of the 9th Congressional District in Michigan. In recognition of his distinguished career, the Board of Trustees of Hope College conferred upon Mr. Vander Jagt the honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1983.
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Dr. Brent Krueger is a professor of chemistry, a Schaap Research Fellow and a Global Water Research
Institute (GWRI) Fellow at Hope, where he’s been teaching since 2001. He was named
the Elmer E. Hartgerink ’39 Professor of Chemistry. He teaches a variety of courses, including physical chemistry,
computational modeling/programming and introductory chemistry. Krueger has been active
in a variety of research projects during his time at Hope — primarily using the tools
of physics and chemistry to understand biological systems. Currently he is involved
with several projects related to water quality, with studies ranging from our local
Macatawa Watershed to drinking water from at-risk communities around the world. He
is also actively involved with LibreTexts and with the Midwest Undergraduate Computational Chemistry Consortium(MU3C).
The Elmer E. Hartgerink ’39 Endowed Professorship in Chemistry was established in 1991 by Elmer and Margaret Hartgerink through a gift of stock in the Wyckoff Chemical Company in South Haven, Mich., where Elmer Hartgerink served as chairman and CEO from 1979-1989. The professorship is granted to a faculty member recognized as an outstanding chemist dedicated to students, teaching and research, and committed to the Christian faith.
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Dr. Steve McMullen was named the Robert W. Haack Endowed Chair of Economics. McMullen joined Hope in
2014 and teaches microeconomic and macroeconomic theory courses, and the history of
economic thought. During May Term he regularly takes a class to London.
One of McMullen’s academic passions is exploring Christian thinking about economics. He serves as executive editor of the journal Faith & Economics and hosts the podcast Faithful Economy, both associated with the Association of Christian Economists. He contributes regularly to the blog of the Christian Scholars Review. He also engages in empirical education policy research and is a co-author on Digital Life Together: The Challenge of Technology for Christian Schools.
The Robert W. Haack Chair in Economics honors an outstanding faculty member who oversees broader programming and has leadership responsibilities along with their roles as teacher and scholar. This endowed chair honor was established by Mr. Robert W. Haack ’38, a distinguished business leader, most notably as president and CEO of the New York Stock Exchange and chairman and CEO of Lockheed Corp. Following retirement, Mr. Haack served as a member of the board of directors with a number of major U.S. corporations. This chair is to be held by a distinguished economist dedicated to teaching, research and the mission of Hope College. The chair is to be filled by an economist of established national reputation who is dedicated to the professional field of economics and to the excellent education of undergraduate students.
Along with reflecting the recipient’s responsibilities, the designation of an endowed chair or director provides enhanced annual funding for professional use and departmental programming. Hope also awards endowed deanships for faculty with divisional or institution-wide roles. Hope College’s fundraising efforts include establishing more of the positions, with the endowments providing funding in perpetuity.