Westmont Receives $1.5 M for Science

The T.B. Walker Foundation, an anonymous donor and others have committed $1.5 million to Westmont toward the creation of the college’s first endowed chair in the natural and behavioral sciences. The T.B. Walker Foundation Chair in the Natural & Behavioral Sciences will honor the work of an outstanding faculty member in biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering/physics, mathematics or psychology.

The chair will be awarded to a current Westmont professor every three to five years. This is the second rotating chair established at Westmont in the past year. In June, Rick Pointer, Westmont professor of history, was selected as the first recipient of the newly established Fletcher Jones Foundation Endowed Chair in Social Science.

The Walker chair includes a reduced teaching load (one less class each year) so the professor can focus on research.

“Not only does the new chair bring prestige to its holder and the institution, but the research opportunities will enhance students’ education as well,” says Warren Rogers, interim academic dean.

A professor will be named to the chair once all of the funding has been received.