The Board of Trustees recently approved the promotion of three faculty members, from associate professor to professor, effective September 1, 2016.
Daniela Kohen, Professor of Chemistry, is a theoretical and computational physical chemist who came to Carleton in 2002. She teaches Principles of Chemistry, Introduction to Chemistry, Chemical Thermodynamics and Kinetics, and Quantum Spectroscopy Laboratory. She also developed a class in Computational Chemistry that empowers students to use computational chemistry tools to address problems related to those they have previously encountered in other chemistry coursework.
In her research, Professor Kohen and her undergraduate collaborators seek to provide a basic understanding of the use of molecular sieves as filters to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, so-called “carbon capture.” Kohen has involved more than 20 undergraduate students in her research program, which has been supported by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, the Petroleum Research Fund and the National Science Foundation. Their work has resulted in several publications and numerous presentations in regional and national events.
Kohen received her BA in chemistry from the Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1990 and her PhD in chemical physics from the University of Notre Dame in 1995.
Nicola Melville, Professor of Music, joined the Carleton faculty in 2004. She is especially active in the area of performance studies in the music department, overseeing piano studies and directs the chamber music program (which includes groups in classical, jazz, African drumming, American folk, Chinese instruments, and the world music group.)
Professor Melville’s primary research includes a significant portion of new music that she has commissioned and/or premiered. Most recently she received an award from Creative New Zealand, which allowed her to commission three new works by New Zealand composers in memory of Judith Clark, her teacher and mentor. She performed these works in a program presented around New Zealand and the US, highlighted by a performance at the prestigious Adam International Chamber Music Festival. Upcoming solo performances include invitations to Chile, Sweden, and Finland, as well as the completion of a multi-phased recording project for UK composer Christopher Norton.
A professional composer and pianist, Melville has recorded for the Innova and Equilibrium labels, most recently releasing a CD of 13 new pieces, including works by Pulitzer and Grammy nominated artists. Her chamber music performances include appearances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, and recitals with renowned musicians such as Erin Keefe and Tony Ross (principals with the Minnesota Orchestra), and with Jeff Zeigler (cellist, Kronos Quartet).
Melville earned her DMA in performance and literature (piano) from the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY in 1998, her MM and the Performer’s Certificate from Eastman, and a BMus from Victoria University, Wellington, in her native New Zealand.
William L. North, Professor of History, began his Carleton career in 1999. He teaches courses on late antiquity (250-700 CE), the early Middle Ages in the West, and the history of Byzantium. He also co-leads a biannual off-campus study program in Rome focused on history, religion, and urban change.
Professor North has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals that explore the intersection of cultural, religious, and institutional history in both the medieval West and Byzantium. He has also published a range of primary source translations and is currently finalizing two major translation projects, The Central Middle Ages: A Reader with University of Toronto Press, and Sovereignty and Sedition in the Age of Reform with Catholic University Press. His longer term projects include a monograph on the institutional and conceptual dynamics of religious reform in the 11th and 12th centuries, critical editions of several 11th and 12th century biblical commentators, and a co-authored volume on the history of the Council of Reims in 1119, the best documented church council of the twelfth century.
North earned his MA and PhD in medieval history from the University of California, Berkeley in 1998. He received his BA in Religion (summa cum laude) from Princeton University in 1989. For more information, contact Beverly Nagel, Dean of the College and Winifred and Atherton Bean Professor of Sociology, Science, Technology, and Society, at (507) 222-4303.
