Four members of the Muhlenberg faculty have been named heads of their respective academic departments.

James Bloom, professor of English, has been named chair of the English department. Bloom, who also directs the Self-Directed Inquiry program, has been a member of the Muhlenberg faculty since 1982. He received his B.A. from Bennington College, his M.A. from the University of California – Santa Cruz, and his M.Phil. and Ph.D. from Rutgers University. Bloom is the author of four books, most recently “Gravity Fails: The Comic Jewish Shaping of Modern America” (Praeger, 2003).

Paul Frary, professor of business, has been named chair of the department of accounting, business and economics. Frary has been a faculty member at Muhlenberg since 1990. A graduate of Baker University in Kansas, Frary earned his M.A. from Kansas State University at Emporia and his Ph.D. from the Sam A. Walton School of Business and Economics at the University of Arkansas. He previously served as department chair from 1990-1995. Frary is a member of the Academy of Management, Omicron Delta Epsilon and Omicron Delta Kappa, a national leadership society.

Hemchand Gossai, associate professor of religion, has been named chair of the religion department. Gossai came to Muhlenberg in 2000 from Culver-Stockton College, where he was associate professor of religion and philosophy. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Concordia College, a master’s of divinity from Luther Theological Seminary, and a doctorate from the University of St. Andrew’s ˆ Scotland. In addition to his teaching duties in the religion department, Gossai serves as director of the RJ Fellows, a scholars program for select students who have exhibited particular intellectual passion and aptitude for exploration of change in the world.

John Malsberger, professor of history, has been named chair of the history department. Malsberger, who joined the Muhlenberg faculty in 1978, earned his B.A. and Ph.D. at Temple University. His areas of expertise include 20th-century U. S. economic, political and diplomatic history.

Scott Sherk, professor of art, has been named chair of the art department. Sherk has been a member of the Muhlenberg faculty since 1985 and was the recipient of the 2002 Paul C. Empie Memorial Award. An accomplished sculptor, Sherk holds a B.A. from Haverford College and an M.F.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Walsh Named Distinguished
Visiting Scholar

Vivian Walsh, Ph.D., has been named Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Economics and Philosophy. Previously, he served as visiting distinguished lecturer for 14 years.

Walsh received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as his Ph.D., from Trinity College at the University of Dublin. Prior to his 1989 arrival at Muhlenberg as visiting distinguished lecturer, he taught internationally at Exeter University, the London School of Economics, the University of Waterloo and Sir George Williams University. In the United States, he has been a lecturer or professor at Columbia University, the University of Washington, the New School for Social Research, the University of Tulsa, Guilford College, Jackson State University, the State University of New York at Buffalo, the University of Denver and Connecticut College.

“Vivian Walsh is a well-known international scholar in the areas of political economy, moral philosophy and the philosophy of science in economics,” says Dr. Paul Frary, chair of the accounting, business and economics department. “His 49 years of continued scholarly works have elevated him into the top 10 percent of scholars in his field. Muhlenberg College and the accounting, business and economics department are very proud to have such a well-known scholar in residence.”

Walsh is the author of more than 25 articles and books, including a 2003 citation in the “Review of Political Economy.” His work has been cited in Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen’s book “Rationality and Freedom,” and Hilary Putnam’s recent book, “The Collapse of the Fact/Value Dichotomy,” is dedicated to Walsh.