Under Gentry’s guidance and unwavering mentorship of the Hollins Pre-med Program, more than a dozen aspiring students have enrolled in medical or physician’s assistant school. Students also had his impressive research as a standard for their own scientific careers. His chapter “Mechanical Properties of Active Biopolymer Networks” in Soft Matter and Biomaterials on the Nanoscale (World Scientific, 2020) advanced the field’s understanding of fundamental and application-inspired aspects of soft and bio-nanomaterials.

Equally as passionate about teaching and communicating physics to future physicists and non-physicists alike, Gentry shared his interests in the many intersections between physics and the biological sciences with his students and colleagues.

Under Cline’s patience, unwavering encouragement, and humor, Jen Allen O’Dowd ’95 discovered far more than her musical potential. “Dr. Cline helped me find confidence and enjoyment in my singing,” O’Dowd recalls. “She gave me foundations [to be] a better version of me. I came out a better singer, a better musician, and a more peaceful and happier person.”

A graduate of Drake University, the University of Southern California, and Washington University in St. Louis, Cline has received several honors and awards, including the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. In 1997—the 200th anniversary of Franz Schubert’s birth—she was selected to participate in the prestigious International Franz Schubert Institute in Baden bei Wien, Austria. In collaboration with pianist Michael Sitton, she released a critically acclaimed CD devoted to the art songs of women composers, A Sampler in Song.

Chris Richter joined the communication studies department at Hollins in 1995 and over the past 27 years, “Richter” (as he is affectionately called by his students) has taught, advised, challenged, and yes, fed hundreds of students.

He is known for his fierce defense of, and belief in, the discipline of communication studies. To his students, Richter embodies what a professor should be: inspiring, passionate, talented, and thoughtful. As one of his students noted, “My favorite class with Richter was our senior thesis course where we each got a chance to meet with him one-on-one to work through our challenges. He was so supportive and genuinely invested in each of our topics. I will always be thankful for what Richter has taught me.”

Richter offered a variety of engaging classes during his career that ranged from video studio processes to public communication and discourse. He creatively mixed rigor and entertainment with ease: he loved to paint a picture with a story or quick anecdote, and his multimedia PowerPoint presentations were envied for the way he could insert the perfect song, pop culture visual, and critical insight, whether he was discussing media law, communication technology, or even how to watch television. His PowerPoints were particularly meaningful to students throughout the pandemic, which required classes to be taught remotely. “During Covid-19, Professor Richter started and ended his PowerPoints with pictures of his cats, and included the line, ‘This Class Brought to You by Seven the Cat,’” a student recalled. “It was a little thing, but it helped me find something to look forward to in a really stressful time.” His attention to the needs of others was also appreciated by another student, who said, “My meetings with Professor Richter always ended with him saying, ‘Great to see you,’ which warmed my heart every time.”

Richter’s “amazing tzatziki recipe and his homegrown tomatoes” further endeared him to students, and one of them described him as “a professor with style—in his iconic earring!” A tribute would not be complete without mentioning the January Short Term trips to Greece through the years that continue to be the template for how to successfully take 15 to 20 college students abroad and ensure they not only learn a lot but have a lot of fun as well (and survive!).

The Greece trips were organized and led by Richter and his wife, Professor of Classical Studies Tina Salowey. Richter and Salowey met on her first day on campus in July 1996 when he helped her move into the apartment below him on Faculty Avenue. “That night,” she recalled, “my cat, Leo, mewled around the apartment all night and I was finally driven to let him out at about 4:30 in the morning. A huge storm moved in and I couldn’t find Leo, who was terrified of thunder and lightning. Distraught, I searched along Faculty Avenue for my cat and Chris helped me look. We walked and talked, and when I returned to my apartment, Leo was inside, safe and dry (I had left the window open for him), but Chris and I got to know one another. We have been together for 26 years!”

Among his peers both past and present, Richter is greatly valued. Professor of Economics Emeritus Juergen Fleck recalled, “He first stood out to me in our Division II (Social Sciences) meetings, where his thoughtful contributions reflected his genuine concern for his students, colleagues, and the Hollins community. I especially admired Chris’ willingness to speak up on important issues in a constructive and nonconfrontational way. This was not lost on other faculty members, who elected him repeatedly to serve on important committees. He has an extraordinary record of service to Hollins,” which included serving as department or division chair numerous times throughout his tenure.

Fleck added, “As a teacher and mentor, Chris wanted his students to become active citizens and lifelong learners. So, in his classes, he challenged them with collaborative work and experiential learning. The travel blog posts required of students during the popular Short Term trips to Greece are just one example. He also went out of his way to make students feel at home at Hollins. He and Tina, both great cooks, invited students to their house at the end of each semester to enjoy some home cooking, see the lovely mountains, and meet their cats.”

Richter is widely respected for his research that has spanned a variety of areas of communication studies. These include alternative media, early 1900s travel diaries, visual culture, and his current passion to grow his expertise on Byzantine to Modern Greek history, especially commemorative monuments of the 18th through 20th centuries. His insights on institutional matters that were close to his heart, such as the announcement in 2012 to relocate the student apartments to Faculty Avenue, were reasoned and thorough—even if you didn’t always agree with him. As one faculty member said, “He is feisty, kind, funny, and passionate about issues that are important to him. It may take him days to craft a response to an issue, conflict, or question, but you can be sure that his response is a thoughtful, in-depth exploration of all sides.”

Richter is embarking on a new chapter in life, but there is no doubt that he, as another faculty member stated, will “continue to find communication in all that he sees around him.” In the meantime, his retirement is leaving some very big shoes to fill. “Chris is a man of many talents,” Fleck said, while a student reflected, “We will miss his strong leadership and dedication to the discipline, the department, and the university. And his tzatziki. What will we do without you, Richter?”

Lori Joseph, professor of communication studies

Professor of Chemistry Bansi Kalra’s academic life began in his native country, India. It was there that he earned an undergraduate honors degree in chemistry from Panjab University, which he completed in three years. He also holds a master’s degree in chemistry from Panjab.

Before joining the faculty at Hollins in 1980, Bansi made stops in Canada, New York, and Iowa. In Canada, he earned a Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry from the University of Saskatchewan, and he completed a one-year post-doc at Queen’s University in Ontario. In New York, he was a post-doctoral fellow at Colgate University, and in Iowa, he taught at Wartburg College and at the University of Northern Iowa. These stops helped prepare him well for the long and successful 42-year career he would have at Hollins.

Two factors contributed to Bansi’s success as a teacher: his love of chemistry and his love for his students. His love of chemistry was evident in the way he taught. Bansi firmly believed in hands-on learning, a form of education he employed in all his courses. By having students carry out carefully selected demonstrations in class, they would learn by doing. These demonstrations were always instructive and often hugely entertaining.

His love for his students was apparent in the way he treated them. Bansi was known for working late into the night, so it was not unusual to find him in his office after hours. His students have spoken fondly of the times he would offer to make coffee or tea for them while they also worked late into the night completing homework assignments or studying for tests.

His love was also evident by the way he spoke about them. Once, when asked what course he enjoyed teaching the most, without hesitation, he answered Chemistry 101. He explained that in his experience many of the students who take this course are fearful of the subject. He said he loves “pulling them through,” because, as he remarked, “pulling them through means something.”

As a research scientist, Bansi studied reaction pathways. Using sophisticated methods of synthesis and analysis, he and his collaborators worked out detailed mechanisms associated with the chemical changes that certain small, cyclic hydrocarbon molecules undergo at high temperatures.

On more than one occasion, the studies they conducted were supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, and at various times their findings were published in prestigious journals, such as the International Journal of Chemical Kinetics, the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and the Journal of Physical Chemistry.

Bansi takes great pride in his accomplishments as a researcher, but he is even prouder of the fact that he was able to involve students in his work. His students presented their findings at regional, national, and international conferences, and two of them were coauthors on papers he published in peer-reviewed journals.

Because of Bansi’s accomplishments as a teacher and researcher, he twice held the prestigious Paula Pimlott Brownlee Professorship, a distinction only one other faculty member at Hollins has earned.

The faculty, particularly those closest to him, will sorely miss his wit, his intellect, his mentorship, and his all-around kind, gentle, and upbeat presence.

Dan Derringer, professor of chemistry

My colleague and friend, Annette Sampon-Nicolas, arrived at Hollins in 1985, the year of the legendary flood; an event she remembers vividly. She had been at Hollins only two months when, one day while teaching a class on 19th-century French literature (that included former Board Chair Alex Trower ’86), she received word that if she did not want her car to float away, she should move it quickly! While she recalls the flood as a harrowing event, she also remembers it as a time when faculty and staff came together to help save rare library books and to support one another. She and her colleagues literally weathered the storm. What a memorable way to start her long and fruitful career at Hollins!

Recently I asked Annette how she came to be at Hollins, and she proceeded to tell me the most wonderful story about her serendipitous encounters with our institution. She said that many years ago, she and her mother were on an ocean liner headed to Europe when they met a fellow passenger who turned out to be a French professor at Hollins! She then told me about how one of her father’s professors from Belgium spent a year teaching at Hollins and wrote a memoir, Un Air de Virginie, in which he described Tinker Day and other memorable experiences. She concluded by saying: “How could I not pick Hollins with all these coincidences? I am fortunate that Hollins also chose me!”

Annette was born in Belgium and grew up in a family where culture and curiosity were mainstays. Her parents, whom she credits for everything she has achieved, instilled in her a passion for learning and a curiosity about the world and the environment. From them she developed a love of languages, literature, art, music, history, politics, architecture, gardening, cordon bleu cooking, and fencing (she was on the varsity team at the University of Wisconsin!). Many of these interests made their way into the innovative courses Annette developed at Hollins: interdisciplinary courses about the literature, film, and cultures of North Africa and West Africa, the Caribbean, Brazil, Iran, Canada, Europe and Asia, food culture and politics, international studies, and the environment. Annette has always been grateful to Hollins for the creative freedom she has had to develop new classes and the opportunity to teach a variety of students: first-year seminar students, French majors and minors, and M.A.L.S. students.

In addition to her accomplishments in the classroom, Annette has been an active scholar throughout her career, having published two books and numerous articles. For her tireless dedication, the French government honored her with the Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques, a prestigious order of knighthood bestowed upon a scant few for their distinguished contributions to French national education and culture throughout the world.

What Annette has valued most about Hollins is the opportunity to teach young minds and to see a passion for learning develop in her students. She has loved learning from them as much as they have loved learning from her. She remains close with many of her alumnae and she cherishes those relationships. Erin Pettigrew ’03, who teaches at NYU Abu Dhabi, said the following about her mentor: “Annette is by far the most important intellectual and professional influence on my life. It is because of her teaching, enthusiasm, and curiosity that I became a professor. It is because of her kindness and warmth that we have remained friends.” Annette credits students like Erin for making her career so rewarding.

Annette’s kindness and warmth extend to her faculty colleagues as well. When I arrived at Hollins, she welcomed me with open arms, frequently inviting me to her home for the most delicious meals. She helped me adjust to my new life and has been there for me as a friend and valued colleague all these years. We have wonderful conversations about teaching and scholarship, and she has been so generous, sharing syllabi, books, and all sorts of other resources that have helped me grow as a professor. As Annette is an avid and talented cook and baker, I have also been one of the fortunate recipients of her exquisite treats over the years!

Annette, Hollins has been so fortunate to have you these 37 years. Thank you for choosing Hollins and for dedicating your life’s work to instilling a passion for learning in our students. I wish you a long and joyous retirement doing the many things you enjoy. You will be sorely missed.

Alison Ridley, Elisabeth Lineberger Ramberg Chair, professor of Spanish

Liz Poliner, a self-described “craft nerd,” is, like all good teachers, a lifelong learner—humble before that which she has yet to discover.

During her decade-plus at Hollins, she has enriched creative writing students with new methods for breaking into the lock box of self-censorship, for strategic revision, and for conducting historical research.

Some of Liz’s many gifts to Hollins, in leadership and in teaching, include:

• Mentoring a passel of outstanding undergraduate honors theses,
• Leading consistently strong “workshop” and intermediate classes,
• Shepherding the creation of an additional graduate assistantship,
• Fielding essential 100-level and J-Term classes for her department,
• And yes…committee work, on the Graduate Academic Affairs Committee, Diversity Initiative Advisory Board, and others.

While serving as director of creative writing, Liz brought in a notably accomplished and diverse group of authors for campus visits. When COVID-19 first hit, she faced the particular challenges of overseeing the M.F.A. students’ comprehensive exams, which had to be quickly shifted online, while finishing out the admission process for the next cohort. She reinvented work assignments for graduate assistants and ensured that the reading series carried on successfully in the weird new realm called “Zoom.”

Liz has also done crucial work for Hollins in support of Jewish matters, both as a member of the Diversity Initiative Advisory Board and in persuasive conversations and memos behind the scenes, raising awareness of identities often overlooked.

Here’s what some of her former students have to say about Liz’s teaching:

KELLY COOK M.F.A. ’09: “Elizabeth Poliner changed my writing and my life. I cannot say enough good things about her ability to teach the impossible—and also do the impossible, for she is an excellent teacher and writer.”

LUCY MARCUS M.F.A. ’19: “I still remember the moment I realized the complexities I had overlooked in a published story we were analyzing. Liz asked the group a question. Then she had us reread a line of dialogue but did not tell us what it meant. She simply watched as we flipped frantically through the pages of the story and murmured, with shared awe, a collective understanding that Liz’s question had unlocked. Thank you, Liz, for your wisdom and contagious passion.”

APRIL WILDER M.F.A. ’15: “The ‘a-ha’ moments I experienced in Liz’s tutorial continue to impact my writing today. Liz sees to the heart of people’s motivations and desires, and how who we are is inextricable from how we interact with the world. The encouragement she has given me across the years (including after graduation) has been a buoy. I send her all my love and best wishes as she retires from Hollins.”

MEGHANA MYSORE M.F.A. ’22: “Liz puts so much energy into her teaching, and this energy was really needed for me in my first year in the Hollins M.F.A. program. She so clearly cared about my work and pushing it to reflect its greatest potential.”

Liz’s obsession with the craft of fiction has also benefited the writing community nationwide through a series of very well-received panels she’s organized for the annual conferences of her professional organization, the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, and through her published essays on other writers’ work.

But we can’t talk about Liz without talking about her as a literary artist: one whose creativity and diligence enrich a wider realm than just our campus. She’s an accomplished poet and writer of short stories, and she leaves us ready to dive into completing her much-anticipated third novel. So, we’ll close by telling you about the success of her second, As Close to Us as Breathing.

We could call this book “beautiful,” “exquisite,” and “the kind of novel you sink into blissfully,” but that would be plagiarizing from the rave review it got on NPR back in 2016! So we’ll steal from The New York Times instead. That reviewer wrote that Liz has “a keen eye for the awkwardness and sudden leaping insights of adolescents on the brink of adulthood,” and praised As Close to Us as Breathing as “a big-hearted roundelay of a novel that, among other things, performs the invaluable service of recovering a lost world.”

The novel was translated into German and also got good reviews abroad. Here in the U.S., it received the Janet Heidinger Kafka prize, an award previously won by such luminaries as Toni Morrison and Ursula K. Le Guin.

Achievements like this, not to mention her public readings and book club visits around the country, redound to Hollins’ reputation. They also exemplify the breadth and depth of vision, the inspired imagination, and the acute insights of our remarkable colleague, Elizabeth Poliner.

Well done, Liz! Thank you—and keep writing!

Cathryn Hankla ’80, M.A. ’82, professor of English emerita, and Jeanne Larsen M.A. ’72, professor of English emerita

Pożegnanie i dziękuję Kazimierz (Farewell and thank you, Casimir)

Iwould like to extend a heartfelt thanks and sincere best wishes to Casimir Dadak. May he enjoy a long and prosperous retirement after having spent the last 22 years of his life devoted to teaching, academic advising, and scholarly research at Hollins University. Our department and our university can only share the joy that this new chapter in his life brings to Casimir and his family.

I have known Casimir throughout the last 15 years and have noticed in his person a man of profound moral standards based on Christianity, a worldview that has led him to develop a critical vision of today’s society. His concerns over the future of the European Union and the fate of the Euro zone are intertwined with continuous reflections based on sacred scriptures and the Heavenly.

A native of Poland, Casimir’s tenure at Hollins began in Spring Term 2000 as visa arrangements were stalled during late spring and summer of 1999, preventing Casimir, his wife, Ania, and children, Vojtech and Christopher, from joining our Hollins community until the beginning of the 1999-2000 academic year. Casimir, who completed his Ph.D. in economics with a concentration in finance from Fordham University, taught undergraduate courses in finance and applied macroeconomics. Among the multiple contributions he willed to Hollins, Casimir helped spearhead changes in our business major by introducing courses in international business and international finance—areas he is most familiar with, given his research expertise. A year or two before the turn of the century, and the new millennium, Hollins introduced its business major. Gradually, Casimir’s contributions led to a more robust business curriculum. Over the past 22 years, Casimir served, with aplomb and distinction, as department chair and was elected by his colleagues to serve as faculty representative on several standing committees.

A fan of European league soccer, Casimir has a long and distinctive scholarly trajectory. He is the author of seven book chapters and over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles in prestigious journals, including The Journal of Economic Issues and East European Review, among others. Casimir’s research interests cover the economic transformation of east-central Europe, European economic integration, economic development of east-central Europe, and the economics and politics in the former Soviet Bloc. His scholarship is also patent in non-academic publications, including regular news article contributions in Dziennik Polski and Idziemy, two widely read Polish newspapers.

Students will miss Casimir’s wit, unforgiving exams, and oral presentations based on final team projects!

In closing, I dedicate the following poem by Irish poet William Butler Yeats to Casimir, who enjoys nature and shares the firm belief that nature’s cherished power fortifies body, mind, and soul. All best wishes, Casimir.

“The Lake Isle of Innisfree”
By William Butler Yeats

I will arise and go now,
and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there,
of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there,
a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there,
for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning
to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer,
and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now,
for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low
sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway,
or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

Pablo Hernandez, associate professor of economics

Rebecca “Becky” Beach joined the Hollins biology department in the fall of 1994. With degrees and expertise in genetics, cell and molecular biology, and developmental biology, she has led the biology curriculum in these areas for the past 27 years.

Becky has guided numerous students through creative and meaningful independent research experiences over the years, both alone and in partnership with colleagues. Her scholarly endeavors have often included students, and several of her scientific publications have included student coauthors. Her mentorship has ignited the trajectory of so many students into graduate study, human medicine, veterinary medicine, and the biotech industry. Their success in these fields, and thus the success of Hollins as an institution of higher learning, is due in part to her effort and dedication in the classroom and laboratory.

Hollins students speak very highly of Becky as a professor, advisor, and mentor, remarking on her supportive and encouraging nature, and her expertise in the classroom and laboratory. A first-year student recently told her, “I love how you connect with your students on a personal level. I feel like I can come to you about anything, I trust you and you have made an amazing impact on my education.”

Students in her 300-level Genetics course and laboratory have been similarly laudatory: “Very interesting course. Dr. Beach loves this topic and really enjoys teaching it,” and “Great class, super interesting. Dr. Beach is amazing!”

Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies Elizabeth “Liz” Gleim ’06 has known Becky as both a professor and as a departmental colleague. Liz reflected on these experiences:

“I first knew Becky when she was my professor at Hollins. Then as now, she was so kind and supportive of her students, and I was always in awe of what she knew about all things molecular and cell-based. As a colleague, Becky continues to amaze me with the wealth of practical knowledge she’s amassed in the lab, which I have drawn upon on many occasions, and her continued interest in topics relevant to her field. I will always be grateful to Becky for what she gave me as a student and now as a colleague. She helped lay the foundation for the laboratory skills and molecular and cell-based knowledge that helped me secure my first job out of Hollins at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and on to graduate school and today. To think that I am just one of the countless students whose careers she has helped to launch and the many wonderful things that those students have gone on to do is just amazing.”

Biology Department Technician Cheryl Taylor, who earned her degree in biology from Hollins in 2009 as a Horizon student, echoed that good fortune:

“Becky was the first person I met in the biology department. I was a bit nervous coming to Hollins as an adult Horizon student. I was so unsure of how I would do academically while working a full-time job and raising two children. Or how I would fit in with the other students that were far younger than me. Becky immediately picked up on that nervousness and assured me I would be just fine. She became my advisor and she helped me navigate the transferring of credits from community college and what my next steps would be to achieve my degree. She was so helpful, kind, and reassuring. As the biology lab technician at Hollins, I have engaged with Becky on a different level. She is an awesome colleague and mentor. She loves to teach and enjoys working with our students. She encourages them and guides them through tough subjects and tough schedules. Becky is such a wonderful soul. She has touched many lives in her tenure at Hollins, mine being one of them.”

Becky’s service and commitment to the Hollins community have been remarkable. She has taught over a dozen different courses in the General Education program, the First-Year Seminar program, and the biology major. She has served multiple times as chair of the biology department, and as chair of Division III and representative on the Faculty Executive Committee. Over the years she has made invaluable contributions as a member of the Academic Policy Committee, Harassment Grievance Board, and Review Board, and several search, scholarship, and advisory committees. Becky has also served the university as clerk of the faculty and for several years as dean of academic services.

Becky has brought a love for dogs, particularly Australian Shepherds, into the classroom and has woven it into both a January Short Term course and a semester course, Biology of Dogs. In addition, in partnership with her Aussies, Lilly and Jake, Becky has earned numerous titles on obedience and scent detection, and participates regularly in local, state, and regional competitions.

In addition to her excellence as an academician and canine trainer, Becky is an outstanding baker. I first learned this at the end of my first semester as a member of the department. By the time the final exam period arrived, I was worn paper-thin and looking forward to the holiday break. On the last day of exams, I found a surprise in my office: a beautiful bounty of parchment paper-wrapped packages containing homemade cranberry bread, chocolate and peanut butter fudge, cinnamon cake drizzled with icing, and my absolute favorite—molasses cookies. Becky has given this wonderful gift to me and to each of my departmental colleagues every year since.

I have always known that I can count on Becky not only as a close colleague, but also as a friend. On behalf of my colleagues, coworkers across campus, and the many hundreds of students whose lives she has impacted, I thank her for all she has done for Hollins. I congratulate her on an outstanding faculty career and on her retirement. As Professor of Biology Renee Godard said, “Becky is irreplaceable. Our hearts and minds have grown in her presence and will echo in her absence.”

C. Morgan Wilson, Janet W. Spear professor and chair of biology