St. Mary’s College of Maryland has named three faculty members to endowed positions, recognizing a neuroscientist who studies how the brain produces sound, an archaeologist of the ancient eastern Mediterranean and a historian whose work traces a former Maryland governor’s influence on modern American politics.
Associate Professor of Neuroscience Liz Leininger and Associate Professor of History Sarah Malena were named Aldom-Plansoen Honors College Professors for 2026-28. Professor of History Chuck Holden was named the George B. and Willma Reeves Endowed Chair in the Liberal Arts for 2026-29.
“It’s a pleasure to recognize the achievements of these exceptional faculty,” said Katie Gantz, Ph.D., the college’s provost and dean of faculty. “Endowed awards like the Aldom-Plansoen and the Reeves help highlight one of the defining features of the honors college experience: our students work closely with exceptional scholars, artists, and researchers. The generosity of our donors makes it possible to continue the College’s enduring commitment to academic distinction and collaborative student research.”
Mid-career recognition
The Aldom-Plansoen Endowed Fund supports professorships for accomplished mid-career faculty. Alumnus Jarrod Aldom ’97 and John Plansoen created the fund in 1999, according to the college, and the award includes support for the recipients’ research. Past recipients include psychology professor James Mantell and Spanish professor Argelia González Hurtado, who held the professorship from 2024 to 2026. Leininger and Malena began their two-year terms Aug. 1.
Leininger chairs the Department of Neuroscience. Her research covers two areas: the neural mechanisms that underlie vocalization, and neuroscience education, including how students learn through neurophysiology simulations. The National Science Foundation has supported her neuroethology research. Neuroethology is the study of how the nervous system produces natural animal behavior.
Malena is an ancient historian and archaeologist who specializes in the cultures of the eastern Mediterranean, and she coordinates SMCM’s Museum Studies Program. Her research looks at how contact between ancient cultures shaped social and ideological change. Her most recent book, “Fertile Crossroads: Elites and Exchange in the Southern Levant’s Early Iron Age,” was published in 2025 by Equinox Publishing. It examines trade and elite relationships in the region at the start of the Iron Age.
A historian of the South, and of Agnew
The Reeves Chair was established in 1997. It recognizes a distinguished scholar and gifted teacher who provides academic leadership and helps enrich the college’s humanities curriculum. Holden follows anthropologist Julie King, who held the chair from 2024 to 2026, and English professor Jeffrey Hammond, who held it from 2001 to 2022. His three-year appointment begins Sept. 30.
Holden has taught at St. Mary’s College since 1999. His fields are 19th- and 20th-century U.S. history, the American South and the history of academic freedom. His books include “The New Southern University: Academic Freedom and Liberalism at UNC.” He also co-wrote “Republican Populist: Spiro Agnew and the Origins of Donald Trump’s America” with Zach Messitte and Jerald Podair, published by the University of Virginia Press in 2019.
That book has a strong Maryland thread. Agnew rose from Baltimore County executive to governor of Maryland before serving as Richard Nixon’s vice president. He resigned in 1973. Holden and his co-authors argue that Agnew’s combative, grievance-driven style made him one of the founders of the modern Republican Party. Holden has discussed the book locally, including in a 2021 author talk hosted by St. Mary’s County Library.
St. Mary’s College, Maryland’s public honors college, has made a string of academic announcements this fall. They include a new partnership with Ulster University in Northern Ireland, an accelerated path into nine Towson University graduate programs and the launch of the St. Mary’s Athenaeum speaker and community platform.
