Richard Niesenbaum, professor of biology, has been named the new director of the RJ Fellows program.
Niesenbaum will succeed Dr. Lora Taub-Pervizpour, who has served as the director of the Program since 2005.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016 09:18 AM
Established in 2002, the RJ Fellows program was created through the generosity of Joseph and Rita Scheller. Joseph Scheller, the Director of the RJ Foundation, and member of Muhlenberg’s Board of Trustees, expressed an interest in providing students at Muhlenberg College with an opportunity to explore their relationship to a world characterized by rapid and sometimes unsettling change.
The RJ Fellows Program was created to help students develop the knowledge and capacities to effect these changes, and to prepare students for productive, informed and conscientious lives within this ever-changing landscape. The first RJ Fellows class graduated from Muhlenberg College in 2006.
"For the last decade, Rich Niesenbaum has been involved in the RJ Fellows Program in many ways," Taub-Pervizpour said. "Beyond teaching several RJ designated courses and working with Fellows in the classroom, Rich has participated in the pre-orientation program for incoming students, helping to introduce them to opportunities to engage in the Allentown community. RJ Fellows are regular participants in Rich's course on cultural and economic sustainability in Costa Rica, and he has mentored several RJ Fellows conducting research projects in Las Juntas.... Rich's scholarship on sustainability will create myriad opportunities for RJ Fellows to participate in interdisciplinary research and learning that is focused on change, leadership, and the future."
