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Jan. 28, 2004

Mark A. Wilson

WOOSTER, Ohio - Mark A. Wilson has been named the first Lewis M. and Marian Senter Nixon Professor in the Natural Sciences at The College of Wooster. Wilson, a professor of geology and chair of the department, is an expert in evolution, paleontology, and sedimentary geology.

The Nixon Professorship was established through a bequest from Marian Senter Nixon. A native of Canton, Ohio, Mrs. Nixon graduated from Wooster in 1927 with a degree in Latin and taught in the Canton public schools. Lewis M. Nixon, whom she married in 1938, held a variety of positions in the U.S. Information Agency, the Department of State, and other offices during his 47-year career with the federal government. Mr. Nixon died in 1990 and Mrs. Nixon in 2001.

“As one who greatly valued teaching of the highest quality, and a teacher herself, Mrs. Nixon would be very pleased to know that the inaugural holder of this professorship is one of Wooster’s most highly regarded teachers,” said R. Stanton Hales, Wooster’s president.

“I am very honored to accept the Nixon Professorship,” Wilson said. “It gives me an opportunity to publicly thank The College of Wooster for its support over all these years, and to thank the Nixon family for their generosity and thoughtfulness.”

Wilson’s most recent research, conducted with two colleagues from Smith College on the Eemian coral reefs in the Bahamas, found evidence of a sea-level change resulting from a “little ice age” approximately 125,000 years ago. This is now known as the “Devil’s Point Event” and is a significant addition to models of climate change.

“I am excited about this research,” Wilson says, “because it connects my paleontological and sedimentological interests with paleoclimatology, and it is ideal for involving undergraduate students.”

In addition to his more formal research activities, Wilson has a keen interest in the debunking of “pseudoscience.” He periodically teaches a first-year seminar course titled “Nonsense in America: The Lure of the Irrational,” which helps students develop and exercise their critical thinking skills on material ranging from crop circles, scientific creationism and alien abduction to conspiracy theories and Holocaust deniers.

Wilson holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree from The College of Wooster. He is an officer of the Palaeontological Association and the Paleontological Society, a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, and a member of the American Geophysical Union and Phi Beta Kappa. He has been a member of the Wooster faculty since 1981.

The College of Wooster is an independent liberal arts college, nationally recognized for an innovative curriculum that emphasizes independent learning. Each Wooster senior creates an original research project, written work, performance or exhibit of artwork, supported one-on-one by a faculty mentor. Founded in 1866, the college enrolls approximately 1,800 students.

The college is presently engaged in the largest fund-raising effort in its history. Independent Minds: The Campaign for Wooster seeks to raise $122 million for capital projects, student scholarships, and academic programs by June 30, 2007. To date, $84 million has been raised.