People
September 21, 2010
Micheal Giles fills Callaway Chair
Micheal Giles
Micheal Giles, Goodrich C. White Professor of Political Science, has been named Emory’s new Fuller E. Callaway Chair, the first in nearly two decades.
Established in 1968, the chair funded by the Callaway Foundation, Inc. recognizes faculty for superior performance at Georgia colleges and graduate schools. Emory last held a Callaway chair in the early 1990s, because the position rotates around the state.
Giles was selected from an outstanding pool of eligible faculty candidates for the prestigious chair because of his tireless commitment to the University and dynamic teaching style, says Claire Sterk, senior vice provost for academic affairs. Along with formally recognizing Giles, the Fuller E. Callaway Professorial Trust will provide salary support, and Giles will hold the chair for the entirety of his Emory career.
“Professor Giles is a distinguished and noted political scientist, a tireless servant of the University and a dedicated teacher at the graduate and undergraduate levels,” says Provost Earl Lewis. “He is richly deserving of this recognition.”
Giles joined Emory in 1983 as chair of the political science department, serving for six years in that post. As a former fellow of The Carter Center, he was responsible for developing and executing plans for The Atlanta Project, an urban empowerment and community building initiative.
His research interests include judicial politics, the politics of race and research methods. He and 14 research assistants have spent the last several years collecting data on 3,500 “en bancs” held by the U.S. Court of Appeals, which are unusually complex cases heard by all judges.
“What Micheal Giles brings to this position is the combination of research prominence, undergraduate engagement and university citizenship,” says Emory College Dean Robin Forman. “Not only is Giles doing innovative work on our judicial system, but he is a campus leader who has played a variety of crucial leadership roles at Emory.”
Giles has demonstrated leadership on a host of Emory College committees, including serving as vice-chair of the Faculty, chair of the former Executive Committee and chair of the Educational Policy committee tasked with implementing the previous general education curriculum. Last year, he co-chaired the search committee for the College dean and chaired the College’s Financial Advisory Committee responding to the budget crisis.
Recently, Giles was selected as the 2010 recipient of the Manning Dauer Award presented by the Southern Political Science Association for distinguished service.
“I’m not sure if this is a dream,” said Giles, responding to the Callaway chair announcement earlier this month. “As a full chaired professor, you’re supposed to do your job, be engaged in the community and keep faculty governance healthy and strong. I didn’t expect anything except the good treatment Emory has already given me.”
