Mary Tucker Thorp Award
Mary Tucker Thorp College Professorship
The Mary Tucker Thorp College Professorship is awarded each academic year to a full professor with at least six years of service at Rhode Island College who has demonstrated excellence in teaching along with excellence in scholarship and/ or excellence in professional and collegial service. The professorship honors the contributions of Mary Tucker Thorp, whose illustrious career at the college spanned the time period of 1926–1967.
Candidates for the Thorp College Professorship are evaluated by a college-wide committee composed of faculty from the Faculty of Arts and Science, the Feinstein School of Education and Human Development, the School of Business, the Onanian School of Nursing, the School of Social Work, and the Adams Library. The appointment is made by the college president.
Selection and appointment criteria include demonstrated excellence in teaching along with excellence in scholarship and/or excellence in service.
Funds to support the Thorp College Professorship were provided by a generous bequest in the will of Mary Tucker Thorp and are held in the Tucker Thorp Fund, which is administered by the Rhode Island College Foundation. Starting in 2004-05 the Thorp Professorship became a college-wide award.
2019 Recipient
Dr. Zubeda Jalalzai
Watch or Listen to the Lecture
Lecture Title: "Literary License: 19th Century Travel Writing and the Afghan Frontier"
Lecture Description: Dr. Jalalzai examines both the literature of early British and American travel writing to Afghanistan and Western India as well as the role literariness itself played in a range of western colonial texts that framed the region. Based on the larger project, Overland to Afghanistan: Travel Writing and the Afghan Romance, Professor Jalalzai analyzes the authors’ desire to maintain documentary objectivity and the powerful draw of the “poetical nature” of frontier war.
Bio for Dr. Jalalzai: Professor of English (Rhode Island College)
- Globalizing Afghanistan: Terrorism, War, and the Rhetoric of Nation-Building. Co-edited with David Jefferess. Duke University Press, 2011.
- Overland to Afghanistan: Travel Writing and the Afghan Romance. Current book project.
- Washington Irving and Islam. Critical Essays. Lexington Books, 2018.
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Support the Mary Tucker Thorp Memorial Fund!
About Mary Tucker Thorp
Mary Tucker Thorp was a graduate of the Rhode Island College of Education. In 1926, she began her forty-year tenure at the college where she served as a professor of education until 1967. In 1961, the college's first residence hall was named in her honor. The Thorp College Professorship, is awarded to an outstanding faculty member, in recognition of her legacy of scholarship and service to the RIC community. - From Rhode Island College: Meeting the State's Needs Through Time
Previous Honorees
Zubeda Jalalzai, English, 2019-2020
Susan Abbotson, English, 2015-16
Pamela Irving Jackson, Sociology, 2013-14
Kathryn Kalinak, English, 2011-12
Meredith McMunn, English, 2008-09
Ying Zhou, Mathematics and Computer Science, 2007-08
Ronald Dufour, History, 2006-07
Maureen Reddy, English, 2005-06
Frederick G. Reamer, Social Work, 2004-05
Mary Tucker Thorp Award
Previous Honorees
Prior to 2004, there were three Mary Tucker Thorp awards, one each in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, School of Social Work, and the Feinstein School of Education and Human Development. The FAS Thorp Award was for outstanding scholarly or creative activity, the FSEHD Thorp Award was for distinguished teaching, and the SSW Thorp Award rotated among outstanding scholarship, distinguished teaching, and excellent service.
2003-2004
James F. Barton, Elementary Education
Pamela I. Jackson, Sociology
2002-2003
Jayashree Nimmagadda, Social Work
Jeannine Olson, History
2001-2002
Cathleen M. Calbert, English
Daniel Weisman, Social Work
2000-2001
Peter S. Allen, Anthropology
Karen S. Castagno, Health and Physical Education
Daniel Weisman, Social Work
1999-2000
Barbara A. Schapiro, English
Felicia Wilczenski, Education
Julie E. Wollman-Bonilla, Education
1998-99
Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Anthropology
C. David Brell, Education
Patricia Medeiros-Landurand, Education
1997-98
Richard A. Lobban, Anthropology
William J. Oehlkers, Education
1996-97
Yael Avissar, Biology
Carolyn P. Panofsky, Education
1995-96
Thomas E. Malloy, Biology
Sharon M. Fennessey, Education
1994-95
Peter Meyer, Physical Sciences
Patricia A. Cordeiro, Elementary Education
Elizabeth H. Rowell, Elementary Education
1993-94
Stephen E. Fisher, Art
Nancy H. Gewirtz, Social Work
1992-93
Curtis K. Lafollette, Arts and Sciences
Joan C. Bloom, Education
Ellsworth A. Starring, Education
1991-92
Amritjit Singh, English
John J. Gleason, Education
1990-91
Judith Lynn Stillman, Music
Mary Ann Bromley, Education
1989-90
Edythe L. Anthony, Biology
Judith H. Dimeo, Education
1988-89
Terence E. Hays, Anthropology
Frederick G. Reamer, Social Work
1987-88
J. Stanley Lemons, History
Joan I. Glazer, Education
1986-87
Harriet Brisson, Art
A. Anthony Antosh, Special Education
1985-86
Charles J. Marzzacco, Arts and Sciences
1984-85
William H. Robinson, Arts and Sciences
Nancy H. Gewirtz, Social Work
Victoria S. Lederberg, Education
Ezra L. Stieglitz, Elementary Education
1983-84
S. Salman Wasti, Arts and Sciences
Rose C. Merenda, Education
S. Scott Mueller, Social Work
1982-83
Sally J. Marks, Arts and Sciences
Marilyn G. Eanet, Education
Joan I. Glazer, Education
Clyde C. Slicker, Education
1981-82
Alene F. Silver, Arts and Sciences
Richard L. Dickson, Education
James J. Rubovits, Education
Paul V. Sherlock, Special Education
1980-81
Lillian D. Bloom, Arts and Sciences
Thomas F. Lavery, Education
Sidney P. Rollins, Education
Robert T. Rude, Elementary Education
1979-80
Nancy Sullivan, English
Joan I. Glazer, Education
Anne K. Petry, Education
Sheri L. Smith, Education