Susan Henking

Last updated
Susan Henking
Henking 1a.jpg
Henking at Shimer College in 2012
Born1955 (age 6869)
NationalityAmerican
TitleProvost, Wells College, 2022-present
Academic background
Alma mater
Thesis Protestant Religious Experience and the Rise of American Sociology (1988)
Doctoral advisorPeter Homans
Other advisorsDonald Levine; Martin Marty
Institutions
Henking at the 2012 Alumni Service Awards dinner Susan Henking 2012 awards dinner.jpg
Henking at the 2012 Alumni Service Awards dinner

Susan E. Henking (born 1955) is an American religious studies scholar. She was the 14th and final president of Shimer College in Chicago, appointed in July 2012, and finishing in 2017. [1] [2] She then served in interim roles at Salem Academy and College, including Interim President in 2020/21.

Contents

Henking was the first female president of Shimer – a small, great books college – since its 19th-century founder, Frances Shimer, ceded control to the University of Chicago, in 1896. [1] At the time, Henking was one of the small number of openly lesbian college presidents. [3] [4]

During her five years at Shimer, Henking blogged on higher education and other topics on The Huffington Post [5] and ChicagoNow . [6] She was also a contributor to Religion Dispatches , an online magazine of religion, politics, and culture. [7]

Education

Henking received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University in 1977, and her Master of Arts degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School in 1979. [8] She received her PhD from the University of Chicago Divinity School in 1988, [9] and began teaching at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in 1988. [8] Her doctoral dissertation was entitled Protestant Religious Experience and the Rise of American Sociology: A Contextual Study of Varieties of Secularization. [8]

Career

Henking taught at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, principally in the field of religious studies. She also taught in women's studies. In 1992, she received the Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award. [9] During her time at the Colleges, Henking served on the Board of the American Academy of Religion and as founding editor of the Oxford University Press series Teaching Religious Studies, also of the American Academy of Religion. [10] Henking was the interim Dean of Faculty from 1998 to 2001. She headed the Department of Religious Studies from 2002 to 2005, and 2008 to 2009. [8] In addition, before her departure in the summer of 2012, she served as adviser to the Board of Trustees. [11]

Henking has written and taught in the field of LGBT studies. Often her work has been at the junction of LGBT studies and religious studies, as in Que(e)rying Religion, the volume she co-edited in 1997, with Gary David Comstock. She co-chaired the program in LGBT studies at Hobart and William Smith, [12] which was the first such program in the nation to offer a major. [13]

In early 2012, Henking was chosen to become the 14th president of Shimer College. [14] She was the first regular president of Shimer College after the acrimonious departure of Thomas Lindsay, in 2010. [15]

After her time at Shimer, Henking continued to work in education as an Interim President at Salem Academy and College, from June 2020 through June 2021. Starting July 1, 2022, Henking became Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs at Wells College. [16]

She continues to publish in religious studies and in areas related to higher education.

Selected works

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References

  1. 1 2 "Dr. Susan Henking Appointed 14th President of Shimer College: First Woman named President since Founder Frances Wood Shimer". Shimer.edu. Archived from the original on 2012-12-12. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  2. "College News: Malcolm X gets a new campus, Shimer gets a president". Chicago Reader. 2012-02-21.
  3. "Lesbian appointed head of Chicago's Shimer College". Windy City Times. 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
  4. Susan Henking (2013-05-07). "LGBTQ Chicago Presidents". ChicagoNow . Retrieved 2013-05-22.
  5. "Susan Henking". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2013-05-24.
  6. "About Shimer Prez". ChicagoNow. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
  7. "Contributors: Susan Henking". Religion Dispatches. Archived from the original on 2013-07-05. Retrieved 2013-05-24.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Curriculum Vitae of Susan E. Henking" (PDF). 2010. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  9. 1 2 Hobart and William Smith Colleges. "Religious Studies: Susan Henking". Archived from the original on 2012-07-17. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
  10. Hobart and William Smith Colleges. "Faculty Information" . Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  11. "Susan Henking". Inside Higher Ed. 2012-03-06. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
  12. "Henking Named Shimer President". 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  13. Pat Flynn (2011-10-04). "SDSU second in nation to offer LGBT major". UTSanDiego.com. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
  14. "Comments from Others". Shimer.edu. Archived from the original on 2012-12-11. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  15. "Big Trouble at Little Shimer: What's happening to Chicago's Great Books college? | The Chicago Weekly". 2010-09-24. Archived from the original on 2010-09-24. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
  16. "Susan Henking Named Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs | Wells College". www.wells.edu. Retrieved 2022-10-28.