RELEASED: April 21, 2005

DANVILLE, KY—At the spring meeting of the Centre College board of trustees, John C. Ward, vice president of academic affairs, reported that tenure has been granted to Patrice Mothion, assistant professor of French, and Philip White, assistant professor of English.

Ward also announced four promotions: associate professor Margaret G. (Peggy) Richey (biology) to full professor; and assistant professors Mothion, Larry Bitensky (music) and Matthew Hallock (dramatic arts) to associate professor.

Mothion joined the Centre faculty in the fall of 2001. A native of Normandy, Mothion moved to the United States from France in 1983. He holds an M.A. in English from the Université de Caen (France) and a Ph.D. in French from the City University of New York. His dissertation, titled Balzac and Brittany, deals with Balzac's love-hate relationship with the Celtic province in western France. Mothion's other academic interests include contemporary France, cooking in literature, French comic books as an art form and the 19th-century novel.

Philip White joined the Centre College faculty in 1999 as assistant professor of English. He had previously taught at Brigham Young University and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

White's interests have focused on Shakespeare and poetry. He has published critical and scholarly work in Hellas, Twentieth-Century Literature and Tudor England: An Encyclopedia. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The New Republic, Quarterly West, Antioch Review, New England Review, Southern Review, Tar River Poetry, The Journal, Verse Daily, Cumberland Poetry Review, Southeast Review, Cream City Review and Fine Madness.

White holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from Brigham Young University and a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Richey has taught biology and biochemistry at Centre since 1989. Her primary area of research interest involves the study of the biochemistry, physiology, and molecular biology of plant disease. She has engaged her students in collaborative research on a particular fungus that attacks soybean crops. Richey also has actively encouraged her students to pursue off-campus research projects, helping them earn placements with short-term or summer projects at major university laboratories throughout the United States.

Richey has published her research in academic journals, including Phytopathology, Journal of Bacteriology, and Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology.

A magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Kentucky, Richey also holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in plant pathology from UK.

Bitensky, who has taught at Centre since 1998, is a composer and pianist, specializing in teaching composition, music theory, musicianship, world music and piano. He received a bachelor of music in piano performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, a master of music in composition from Ithaca College and a doctor of musical arts in composition from Cornell University. His compositions have been performed throughout the United States and abroad.

Hallock joined the Centre faculty in 1997. He is involved in the College's three major drama productions each year, serving as scenic, costume and lighting designer as well as teaching the technology and design portion of the dramatic arts curriculum. Hallock holds a bachelor of science in theater arts from the State University of New York at New Paltz and received his master of fine arts degree in scenic design and technology from Western Illinois University. He currently designs for major theaters in Kentucky, and his work has been seen in theaters around the country.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

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