Dr. James E. Waller has been appointed Cohen Chair for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the first endowed professorship at Keene State College. He’ll be on board for the Fall 2010 semester.

Dr. Waller earned his Ph.D. in social psychology at the University of Kentucky and comes to us from Spokane, Washington, where he was professor of psychology at Whitworth University from 1988, holding the rotating Edward B. Lindamann Chair during 2003–07. He received Whitworth’s award for Outstanding Junior Faculty Achievement in Teaching and Research in 1993 and the Teaching Excellence Award in 1996. His book, Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing, now in its second edition with Oxford University Press, is a standard text for students of genocide throughout the United States.

Professor Waller will play a significant role in Keene State College’s new baccalaureate program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, offering key courses in genocide and comparative genocide. Active both nationally and internationally in Holocaust and genocide studies, he has held fellowships with the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies in Washington, DC, and is an instructor for the Raphael Lemkin Seminar for Genocide Prevention at the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation.

The Owl women’s swim team set some new records at the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Minnesota’s Aquatic Center last week, finishing 18th out of 51 teams and bringing home KSC’s first women’s swimming All-Americas.

Seniors Kristine Trutor and Alea Paddock teamed with sophomore Jillian Whitaker and freshman Kaila Umbarger to earn All-America honors with an eighth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. Then Trutor placed fourth in the 100 backstroke to become the first Owl woman swimmer to earn All-America in an individual event.

The KSC women’s 400 freestyle relay team, composed of Trutor, Whitaker, and Umbarger, and senior Jackie Foster, placed 16th, earning honorable mention All-America recognition.

As KSC coach Jack Fabian said, “They have put Keene State on the national swim map.”

Read more about this amazing championship here.

Everyone who was at the ECAC Championship game in Spaulding Gym on Sunday are probably wondering why their fingernails are so short today. The Owls defeated the Plymouth State Panthers 69-68 in overtime in a real nail-biter. “This was certainly one of the most exciting games I’ve seen at Keene State,” said sports information coordinator Stuart Kaufman. “It had all the elements: heated rivalry, back-and-forth scoring, and our five seniors in their last game.”

Were you there? Tell us about it.

If you weren’t there, visit the Women’s Basketball pages for a blow by blow.