At the December meeting of the Board of Managers, two faculty members were appointed to endowed chairs: Jane Gillham (Psychology) to the Eugene M. Lang Research Professorship and Sunka Simon (German and Film & Media Studies) to the Henry C. and Charlotte Turner Professorship.

Jane Gillham

Jane Gillham is an international expert in the promotion of well-being, especially in adolescents and young adults. Her work is at the intersection of psychology, education, and public health. She focuses on the development of school- and community-based intervention programs designed to promote psychological resilience and prevent common mental health problems. Gillham has helped to establish these programs at sites both in the U.S. and abroad, including in Canada, India, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

Gillham has received numerous federal grants and awards for her research. She has edited top journals and books in her field, and her CV includes more than 90 publications.

Gillham is also a beloved teacher, with students regularly singing her praises. She teaches a highly popular well-being course as well as an internship course, which provides advanced undergraduates the opportunity to gain valuable experience and is one of Swarthmore’s longest-standing community-based learning courses. She has also advised more than 40 student thesis projects in her 26 years at Swarthmore.

Sunka Simon

Sunka Simon is an internationally recognized scholar in German media studies. She has published four books and over 25 articles on film, television, and popular music in leading journals and critical anthologies.

Simon holds a joint appointment in both German and Film & Media Studies. During her 29 years at Swarthmore, she has been an inspiring interdisciplinary teacher and has taught courses on European and U.S. popular culture. She has received internal and external fellowships to support new academic and scholarly initiatives, including a National Endowment for the Humanities grant for collaborative online international learning.

Throughout her career, Simon has been an effective campus leader. She currently serves as chair of the Modern Languages and Literatures and Film & Media Studies departments, and developed the television studies curriculum for the latter. Simon is also an elected member of the Council on Educational Policy. Previously, she served as Swarthmore's associate provost for faculty development, diversity, and excellence.

Simon is widely viewed as an interdisciplinary scholar, a passionate and innovative teacher, and a campus leader.