Lawrence professors Monica Rico, Michael Mizrahi named to endowed positions

Two Lawrence University faculty members were named to endowed professorships this fall.

Monica Rico, a professor of history, has been named the Robert S. French Professor of American Studies, and pianist Michael Mizrahi, a professor of music in the Conservatory, has been named the Frank C. Shattuck Professor of Music.

Rico joined the Lawrence faculty in 2001, with her research focused on gender and cultural history. She’s been honored multiple times both on campus and in the Fox Cities community for her scholarship, teaching, and outreach. She assumes the endowed professorship held by Jerald Podair since 2005. He retired in 2021

Mizrahi joined the Lawrence faculty in 2009. A member of the music collective Decoda, he has recorded multiple albums and has performed world premieres of new music on numerous occasions. His latest album, with the group NOW Ensemble, debuted in November. He also presented the Lawrence premiere of the Florence Price Piano Concerto with the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra. He played a lead role in relocating the annual Decoda Chamber Music Festival to Appleton, beginning in the summer of 2021. He assumes the endowed professorship that had been held by Kenneth Bozeman from 1999 until his retirement in 2020.

The Robert S. French Professorship in American Studies was established in 2001 by a gift from William F. Zuendt and his family in honor of his former high school counselor and long-time friend. Robert S. French graduated from Lawrence in 1948 with a self-devised major in American Studies and carved out an impressive career in education.

The French Professorship is intended to embrace and examine a broad array of American subjects, from history to literature, from political thought to artistic and creative expression.

Ruth Harwood Shattuck, Class of 1906, provided the initial funding for establishing the Shattuck professorship in 1969. It became fully endowed in 1999 through a bequest from her son, Frank C. Shattuck. The chair was then renamed in Frank Shattuck’s honor.

He was the architect of seven buildings on the Lawrence campus, and he was a major supporter of the Conservatory of Music. The Shattuck professorship supports a faculty member in the Conservatory.