the
New Gambrell Center Executive Director
CHARLOTTEAN LAURA KRATT BRINGS EXPERIENCE TO CAMPUS
Queens Welcomes Nationally Recognized Higher Education Leader
KEVIN GANNON NAMED DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF FACULTY EXCELLENCE
For Kevin Gannon, Ph.D., the phrase, "meet me at the café" has a different meaning. As the new director of the Center for the Advancement of Faculty Excellence (CAFE), Gannon hopes to meet faculty and academic staff where they are and take professional development and peer support to new levels. Before coming to Queens, Gannon spent 18 years at Grand View University,
Laura Kratt, an arts administrator with more than 30 years of experience, has been named executive director of the Sarah Belk Gambrell Center for the Arts and Civic Engagement. "I first learned to love the arts growing
up in Charlotte around the corner from Queens," she said. "I went on to pursue a career in arts administration, half of which has been spent on university campuses and the other half at historic theatres. What they all had in common was the pursuit of artistic excellence as well as a grassroots and longstanding commitment to engagement within the community." Kratt comes to Queens after serving
as the first executive director of the Appalachian Theatre in Boone, North Carolina, where she led an $8 million renovation and grand reopening in 2019. "My hope is that the Gambrell Center
fully realized would allow the arts to support Queens University's mission to create future-ready citizens by providing transformational experiences in theatre, music, dance, visual arts, literature and more," Kratt explained. "My first priority is to listen. To listen and learn how we, together, might make a Gambrell Center that is intentional, engaging, and a dynamic force for the campus and community."
—Morgan Williams 10
in Des Moines, Iowa, where he taught history and served as the director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. "One of the things that attracted me to Queens was the audacious 'Queens strategic framework' I saw laid out in the job posting for the CAFE position," Gannon said. "In this time of uncertainty across higher education, to see a place that was not only unafraid of the future, but willing to bet on themselves was incredible."
As the son of an Air Force officer, the professor of history spent his childhood
years in various places ranging from Japan to Hawaii. It was during these formative experiences that he developed a keen interest in cultures that would later compel him to study history. "One of my most treasured possessions is a history textbook from the early 1800s that one of my great-great-great-grandfathers used as an itinerant schoolteacher in the early 19th century in Vermont," he said. "Being in higher education has given me the opportunity to combine my passion for history and teaching." Gannon has also held positions at the University of South Carolina, the
University of Houston and Lamar University, among others. He is an outspoken champion of diversity, equity, and social justice whose teaching, research, and public work center on critical and inclusive pedagogy, race, history, and justice. His online popularity landed him in the Oscar-nominated documentary "13th," which explores modern concepts of slavery and racism as they exist today. "Te idea of CAFE is to introduce our faculty to new and meaningful pedagogies, teaching practices, and insights from learning science and research," said Sarah Fatherly, Ph.D., provost and vice president of academic affairs. "I look forward to seeing how Kevin's experience with inclusive teaching and learning, and in leading those kinds of conversations with faculty across a variety of disciplines will help advance the university's strategic framework."
— Keith Pierce MAGAZINE
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