List of Colby College faculty

Jeremiah Chaplin, the founder and first president of the college.

This list of Colby College faculty includes current and former instructors and administrators of Colby College in Waterville, Maine, as well as a list of the endowed faculty positions. ^[1] As of 2025, Colby has 247 instructional employees.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

Humanities and Social Sciences

Name	Position(s)	Joined College	Left/retired	Alumnus/na?	Reference
Neil Gross	Charles A. Dana Professor of Sociology and chair of the department of sociology	2015	active	no	[2]
Tanya Sheehan	Ellerton M. and Edith K. Jetté Professor of Art, chair of the Department of STS, and chair of the Humanities Division	2013	active	no
Jennifer Yoder	Robert Diamond Professor of Humanities	1996	active	no	[3]
Catherine L. Besteman	Francis F. Bartlett and Ruth K. Bartlett Professor of Anthropology	1994	active	no	[4]
Debra Barbezat	Mitchell Family Professor of Economics	1992	active	no	[5] [6]
Sarah Willie-LeBreton	Assistant Professor, African American Studies/Sociology/Women's Studies	1991	1995	no	[7]
Kenneth A. Rodman	William R. Cotter Distinguished Teaching Professor of Government	1989	active	no	[8]
James Rodger Fleming	Visiting Assistant to Charles A. Dana Professor of STS	1988	2021	no	[5] [9]
Randy A. Nelson	Douglas Professor of Economics and Finance	1987	active	no	[10]
Cheryl Townsend Gilkes	John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of Sociology and African-American Studies	1987	2022	no	[5] [11]
Patrice M. Franko	Grossman Professor of Economics	1986	active	no	[12]
G. Calvin Mackenzie	Goldfarb Family Distinguished Professor of American Government	1985	active	no	[13]
David W. Findlay	Pugh Family Professor of Economics	1985	active	no	[5] [14]
James W. Meehan	Herbert E. Wadsworth Professor of Economics	1973	Emeritus	no	[5] [15]
L. Sandy Maisel	William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Government	1971	2021	no	[16]
Thomas J. Morrione	Charles A. Dana Professor of Sociology	1971	active	1965	[5] [17]
Jack D. Foner	History	1969	1976	no	[18]
Albion Woodbury Small	Professor of political economy	1881	1888	1876	[19]

Natural Sciences

Name	Position(s)	Joined College	Left/retired	Alumnus/na?	Reference
Andrea R. Tilden	J. Warren Merrill Professor of Chemistry and Natural History		active	no	[20]
Fernando Q. Gouvêa	Carter Professor of Mathematics		active	no	[21]
D. Whitney King	Frank and Theodora Miselis Professor of Chemistry	1989	active	no	[22]
W. Herbert Wilson	Leslie Brainerd Arey Professor of Biosciences	1990	2018	no	[23]
F. Russell Cole	Oak Professor of Biological Sciences		2016	no	[24]
Robert A. Gastaldo	Whipple-Coddington Professor of Geology	1999	2020	no	[25]
Julie T. Millard	Dr. Gerald and Myra Dorros Professor of Chemistry		active	no	[26]
Charles Conover	William A. Rogers Professor in Physics		active	no	[27]
Robert T. Bluhm, Jr.	Sunrise Professor of Physics		active	no	[28]
Allen B. Downey	Assistant professor of computer science	1997	2000	no
Gordon Enoch Gates	Professor of biology	1948	1950	1919	[29]
Keith Devlin	Carter Professor of Mathematics and Chair of Department of Math & Computer Science	1989	1993	no	[30]
William T. Bovie	Lecturer in science	1939	1949	no
Rutherford John Gettens	Instructor in chemistry	1923	1927	no	[31]
Marshman Edward Wadsworth	Professor of mineralogy and geology	1885	1886	no
Theophilus C. Abbot	Instructor in chemistry, history, Greek, and Latin	1845	1852	1853	[32]
Justin Rolph Loomis	Professor of chemistry and natural history		1838	no	[33]

Athletics

Name	Position(s)	Joined College	Left/retired	Alumnus/na?	Reference
Blaise MacDonald	Men's ice hockey coach	2012	active	no
Lori Gear McBride	Women's basketball coach	2004	2010	no
Timothy Wheaton	Harold Alfond Director of Athletics	2015	2017	no	[34]
Laura Halldorson	Women's ice hockey coach	1989	1986	no	[35]
James Wescott	Men's track and cross-country coach	1978	2003	no	[36]
Jack Kelley	Men's ice hockey coach	1976	1977	no	[37]
John Winkin	Men's baseball coach, director of athletics	1954	1974	no
Lee Williams	Men's basketball coach	1946	1965	no	[38]
Bill Millett	Coach, "Mr. Colby"	1929	1948	1929	[39]
Harold McDevitt	Men's baseball coach, director of athletics	1909	1910	no

Other

Name	Position(s)	Joined College	Left/retired	Alumnus/na?	Reference
Sharon L. Corwin	Carolyn Muzzy Director of the Colby College Museum of Art and chief curator	2006	active	no	[40]
Robert B. Downs	Librarian	1929	1931	no
Peyton R. Helm	Vice president for college relations	1988	2003	no	[41]
Ninetta May Runnals	Dean of women Professor of mathematics and education	1920	1949	yes	[42]

References

1. Colby College Endowed Chairs: http://www.colby.edu/campaign/endowment/chairs.cfm
2. "Neil Gross".
3. "Jennifer A. Yoder · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
4. "Catherine Besteman".
5. Colby College Faculty, published online 2008, accessed at: http://www.colby.edu/academics_cs/catalogue/2007_2008/faculty/0608faculty.cfm Archived 2008-02-02 at the Wayback Machine
6. "Debra A. Barbezat · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
7. https://www.swarthmore.edu/sites/default/files/assets/images/sociology-anthropology/WILLIE-LEBRETON_CV_2016.pdf ^{[ bare URL PDF ]}
8. "Kenneth A. Rodman · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
9. colby.edu
10. "Randy A. Nelson · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
11. "Cheryl Townsend Gilkes · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
12. "Patrice M. Franko · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
13. "G. Calvin Mackenzie · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
14. "David W. Findlay · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
15. "Meehan, James W.,, Jr. · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
16. "L. Sandy Maisel · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
17. "Thomas J. Morrione · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
18. "April 2000 – AHA".
19. "Guide to the Albion W. Small Papers 1904-1924". lib.uchicago.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
20. "Andrea R. Tilden · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
21. "Fernando Q. Gouvêa's Home Page". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
22. "D. Whitney King". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
23. "Wilson, W. Herbert,, Jr. · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
24. "F. Russell Cole · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
25. "Robert A. Gastaldo · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
26. "Julie T. Millard · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
27. "Charles Conover · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
28. "Bluhm, Robert T.,, Jr. · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
29. Smithsonian Institution Archives, 96-111, Gates, G. E (Gordon Enoch) 1897-, Gordon Enoch Gates Papers, c. 1931 – 1979. Accessed at: http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_252139
30. Academic CV, Accessed at: https://web.stanford.edu/~kdevlin/OnePageVita.pdf
31. The Chesapeake Chemist, Vol 5 No. 1, p1. 1949. Accessed at: http://maryland.sites.acs.org/Chesapeake%20Chemist/Archives/1949/cc-jan-1949.pdf
32. Colby College (1909). General Catalogue [of the Officers and Graduates] of Colby College. p. 15. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
33. "Read-Only". web.colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
34. "Wheaton, Longtime Athletic Dept. Administrator, To Depart | News | The Harvard Crimson". thecrimson.com. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
35. "Laura Halldorson Named Division I Women's Hockey Coach of the Year - University of Minnesota Official Athletic Site". gophersports.com. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
36. "Colby Mourns Passing of Former Head Coach Jim Wescott - NESCAC". nescac.com. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
37. "Jack Kelley (b.1927) hockey statistics and profile at hockeydb.com". hockeydb.com. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
38. "Bangor Daily News - Google News Archive Search".
39. https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3105&context=colbyecho ^{[ bare URL ]}
40. "Sharon L. Corwin · College Directory · Colby College". colby.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
41. Karen Oh. "Colby Magazine, Summer 2003 | On Campus". Archived from the original on October 3, 2003. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
42. "A People's History of Colby College: Activism and Social Justice Since 1813 – Ninetta M. Runnals". Colby College . Retrieved March 3, 2016.