Retiring Faculty Elected to Emeritus Status

Retiring faculty members Helen V. Dungan, cataloging librarian; Charles W. Holliday, professor of biology; J. Ronald Martin ’66, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering; and Arnold A. Offner, Cornelia F. Hugel Professor of History, have been elected to emeritus status and will be recognized at the 177th Commencement on May 19.

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Dungan has served the College for 44 years. Since her arrival in 1968, in the era of card catalogs and hand-typed bibliographic records, she has been instrumental in shepherding the library through automation, changes in classification, the advent of the first library telnet stations, multiple building renovations, and into the latest developments in cutting-edge library technical services.

Helen V. Dungan

Dungan’s continual pursuit of professional development opportunities ensured that Lafayette has remained on the forefront of quality library practices. Thus, as the online catalog interface has evolved over the years, she has kept up with—indeed, remained in front of—the changes so that Lafayette library patrons are always able to take advantage of the latest developments in catalog software. The unparalleled completeness of Lafayette’s catalog is another of Dungan’s extraordinary accomplishments—from books and periodicals, to materials in special collections, to electronic resources, films, computer files, and sound recordings.

Dungan earned a master of science degree in library science from Drexel Institute of Technology and a bachelor of science degree in library science from Kutztown University. She is a member of American Library Association and was a member of two of its divisions: the Library and Information Technology Association and the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services. She also was a member of the Delaware Valley Chapter of the College and Research Libraries Association.

Holliday has been a member of the faculty for 30 years. He received a doctorate in biology from University of Oregon in 1978 and a bachelor of science degree in biology from Marietta College in 1968. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1969-73.

Since 1990, his primary area of expertise has been the biology, systematics, and physiology of cicada killer wasps. His research has been published in dozens of scholarly journals and has twice been featured on National Public Radio’s Weekend Saturday Edition.

Charles W. Holliday

Holliday joined the Lafayette faculty in 1982 as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 1987 and to full professor in 1995. He has taught 114 sections of courses in general biology, invertebrate zoology, human physiology, marine biology, and comparative animal physiology to 2,260 students. He has also sponsored 65 research students’ projects in his laboratory, 21 of which resulted in successful honors theses. From 1989-2011, he revised and maintained the biology department’s web pages and Handbook for Research Students.

Holliday has given 23 scientific presentations at national meetings of scientific societies and reviewed 42 grant proposals for the National Science Foundation and other granting agencies. At the request of their editors, he has reviewed 84 papers submitted for publication to 25 scientific journals.

He is the recipient of the College’s Thomas Roy and Lura Forrest Jones Faculty Lecture Award for excellence in teaching and scholarship, Marquis Distinguished Teaching Award, and Student Government Superior Teaching Award (three times). Holliday has served the College in numerous roles during his tenure, including service on 66 committees of the faculty and search committees and as academic adviser to 35 students each year.

Martin, who served as head of chemical engineering from 1991-2001, has been a member of the faculty for 36 years. His research interests focus on structure-property relationships in polymeric materials and flammability of macromolecules. He has published dozens of articles in scholarly journals and presented his research at numerous national and international conferences.

J. Ronald Martin

Martin was a research scientist at the Textile Research Institute, Princeton, N.J., before joining the faculty in 1976 as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 1980 and to full professor in 2002. He has taught courses in material and energy balances, thermodynamics, materials science, and polymers. He is the recipient of the College’s Marquis Distinguished Teaching Award, Delta Upsilon Distinguished Mentoring and Teaching Award, and Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for excellence in teaching and outstanding contributions to campus life.

In addition to a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from Lafayette, he earned a doctorate in chemical engineering from Princeton University in 1972. He received his professional engineering license in 1978.

Among other committee service at the College he chaired the Honors and Academic Awards, Student Conduct, Library Advisory, and Retirement committees. For many years he coordinated the campus United Way Fund Drive and for a decade was organist for the Lafayette College church and Lafayette Commencements. For the past 10 years he has been faculty mentor for the baseball team.

Offner, who served as head of history from 1994-2000, has been a member of the faculty for 21 years. His areas of expertise include the history of U.S. foreign policy, 20th century international relations, and American political history.

Arnold A. Offner

Offner is the author of Another Such Victory: President Truman and the Cold War, 1945-1953, published in 2002; The Origins of the Second World War: American Foreign Policy and World Politics, 1917-1941, published in 1975; and American Appeasement: United States Foreign Policy and Germany, 1933-1938, which was published in 1969 and received the Phi Alpha Theta National Book Award.

Offner is the co-editor, with Theodore A. Wilson, of Victory in Europe 1945: From World War to Cold War, published in 2000. The past president of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, he served on the editorial board of the society’s journal, Diplomatic History. He has published dozens of articles and spoken at international forums.

Offner is the recipient of Lafayette’s Marquis Distinguished Teaching Award and Mary Louise Van Artsdalen Prize for outstanding scholarly achievement. He has served as adviser to students writing honors theses and involved students in his research program as EXCEL Scholars. He served as chair of search committees for the Fred Morgan Kirby Professor of Civil Rights and the Robert B. and Helen S. Meyner Professor of Government and Public Service.

Offner holds a master of arts degree and a doctorate from Indiana University and a bachelor of arts degree from Columbia University.