Dr. Gregor Thuswaldner, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, was recently invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).

Founded in 1754 by William Shipley, the RSA has included leading intellectuals such as Benjamin Franklin, Charles Dickens, Nelson Mandela, and Stephen Hawking. Fellows come from a wide range of fields, including literature, business, science, art, education, and journalism. Today, the RSA has over 29,000 Fellows in Britain and all over the world. The mission of the RSA is “to enrich society through ideas and action. Fellows have access to the brightest new ideas, innovative projects, a diverse network of like-minded people and a platform for social change.”

About Dr. Thuswaldner������

Jamey Lundblad C’95 loves Chicago. As chief marketing officer for the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, his job is to promote the city’s many cultural offerings. It’s one he relishes.

“Chicago is an arts powerhouse and a global cultural destination—the birthplace of the skyscraper and modern architecture, storefront theatre, improv, the urban blues, and more,” Lundblad says. “I’m passionate about making the arts and local culture available to Chicagoans and visitors, and I love going to see exhibits, theatre, and dance myself—every chance I get. So, I’m grateful that my job allows me to advocate for the arts and Chicago every day.”

The communication arts and Swedish double major says North Park prepared him well for his high-profile position with the city, where he’s responsible for marketing Chicago’s many festivals and promoting Millennium Park, the number-one tourist attraction in the Midwest.

“My classes at ���ϳԹ� were terrific and provided a solid foundation for my career,” says the Minnesota native. “But what really shaped me were my experiences outside the classroom and around the world,” including his semester in Sweden and his role as Student Government president his senior year.

“My study abroad in Sweden gave me confidence and a more expansive worldview,” says Lundblad, who was mentored by many beloved North Park professors and staff, including David and Sue Horner, Melissa Morris-Olson, and Charles Peterson, among others.

After graduation, Lundblad got his career off the ground as an editor and event planner for North Park. Then he moved on to roles at marketing agency VSA Partners and as director of marketing for the Chicago Public Library.

Now a frequent world traveler, Lundblad also serves on the board of directors of Edgar Miller Legacy, a group whose mission is to preserve the architect’s “handmade homes” throughout the country, but especially in the Chicagoland area.

In fact, Lundblad and his husband, Bill Melamed, held their recent wedding in the R.W. Glasner Studio, a building designed by Miller, who was known as a master painter, wood carver, and stained-glass maker. Lundblad and Melamed are committed to supporting the arts, as well as a variety of LGBTQ causes.

Lundblad hails from a long line of North Park alumni: his aunt, uncle, brother, and sister-in-law all attended North Park.

“I’m proud to call myself a North Park Legacy,” Lundblad says.

Newly released by NYU Press is Market Cities, People Cities: The Shape of Our Urban Future, co-authored by Michael Emerson, Provost of ���ϳԹ�, and Kevin T. Smiley.

About Provost Emerson

Dr. Gregor Thuswaldner, Dean of Arts and Sciences, was elected President of the Austrian Studies Association, a member institution of the American Council of Learned Societies. Thuswaldner will serve a two-year term as President. The US-based Austrian Studies Association was founded in 1961 to promote the study of Austrian, Austro-Hungarian, and Habsburg culture, literature, history, and politics. The Austrian Studies Association publishes a quarterly scholarly journal, the Journal of Austrian Studies (University of Nebraska Press) and organizes annual conferences. As President, Thuswaldner also serves as the association’s Chief Executive Officer Liaison to and ex-officio Board Member of the American Council of Learned Societies.

More About Dean Thuswaldner

“I am invested in the wellbeing of my students and my colleagues. Being asked to do more with little is overwhelming, but my colleagues’ dreams for our students are on my mind every single day. My wish is to make those become real possibilities.  An investment in our faculty is an investment in our students.”

Facilitating Faculty Development

As University Dean, Dr. Liza Ann Acosta’s hope is to facilitate the work of faculty development—with a student body comprised of a diverse population and mirrored by a diverse faculty, so that all our students can see themselves reflected in the people who teach them. A new mentorship program for first-year and ongoing rising faculty and a partnership with the Faculty Senate and Office of Institutional Effectiveness for the inclusion of adjunct faculty development are among the initiatives supporting Dean Acosta’s vision of having a well-rounded, diverse faculty at ���ϳԹ�.

Retention and Recruitment of Faculty of Color

Dean Acosta has initiated efforts to more effectively recruit and retain faculty of color who can and do impact the student learning experience through expertise, mentorship, and role-modeling. In these efforts, Dean Acosta advises and serves on search committees, advocates for faculty and staff of color, and leads monthly meetings for faculty and staff of color for community-building.

Helping Students Have an Enriching Intercultural Experience

Dean Acosta is encouraged every day by North Park students as she observes them make connections between classroom and world. “Preparing students to contribute in real possible ways—through the arts, life sciences, technology—is what we seek at ���ϳԹ�, with faculty who have a passion for planting a seed and watching students grow.”

At ���ϳԹ�, Dean Acosta continues to teach, advise, and mentor students. She is also part of the Council on Diversity Equity and Inclusion whose central role includes bias reporting. “I am always thinking of ways that ���ϳԹ�’s faculty, as a collective, can be even better in their respective specialty fields, and how we can help students have an enriching, intercultural experience,” said Dean Acosta. Academic programs are structured in a way to reflect both a rigorous learning experience in the classroom and experiential learning opportunities outside the classroom when engaging how the diverse city of Chicago functions and thrives.

Core principles guide Dean Acosta: encouraging creativity, providing resources for continuous improvement and innovation, documenting and learning from best practices in research and teaching, advocating for a diverse faculty, and nurturing professional development for all faculty members. Meeting the needs of both students and faculty is an ongoing process—a role that for Dean Acosta is always evolving.

Palgrave Macmillan to publish The Hermeneutics of Hell: Visions and Representations of the Devil in World Literature, edited by Gregor Thuswaldner, Dean of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Humanities at ���ϳԹ�.

Dr. THUSWALDNER’s Profile

Thuswaldner is dean of arts and sciences and professor of humanities at ���ϳԹ�.

He is now an active member of the Academy’s Class I (Humanities). The ceremony took place at the University of Salzburg, Austria. The European Academy of Sciences and Arts promotes excellence in fields such as the humanities, medicine, arts, sciences, economics, law, and religion.

The European Academy of Sciences and Arts’ 1,900 members include 29 Nobel Prize recipients and former Pope Benedict XVI. The members of the Academy have a distinguished academic publication record and an impeccable reputation in academia. The Academy’s nominating committee nominates potential members who are then voted on by the Senate of the Academy. Funded by the European Union, the Austrian State as well as by private donors, the European Academy of Sciences and Arts is one of the biggest academic think tanks in the world that is dedicated to interdisciplinary research and regularly discusses pressing issues in the academy and civic society.

Being voted into the European Academy of Sciences and Arts is regarded as a great honor.