Named professors

Three faculty members in the University of Delaware College of Arts and Sciences have been appointed to named professorships. Rudolph (Rudi) Matthee is now John A. Munroe and Dorothy L. Munroe Chair of History, Maria Aristigueta has been named Charles P. Messick Professor of Public Administration, and James Magee has been appointed Hugh M. Morris Professor of Political Science and International Relations.

Matthee's appointment became effective Jan. 16; the latter two are effective Sept. 1.

"I am proud to announce these distinctions which have been conferred on three prominent members of our faculty," said Provost Tom Apple. "All are internationally regarded in their fields for their scholarship and research."

Rudolph Matthee

Rudolph Matthee, former Unidel Distinguished Professor of History, teaches Middle Eastern history, with a research focus on early modern Iran and the Persian Gulf.

Recipient of the 2006 Albert Hourani Book Prize, awarded by the Middle East Studies Association of North America, and winner of the 2004-2005 Said Sirjani Book Prize, awarded by the International Society for Iranian Studies, his newest book, Persia in Crisis: The Decline of the Safavids and the Fall of Isfahan, was published in the spring of 2011.

Matthee served as president of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies from 2009-2011. He received his doctorate in 1991 from the University of California, Los Angeles.

The John A. and Dorothy L. Munroe Chair in History was established in 2007 through the proceeds of a charitable gift annuity created in 2001. The donors are the late John A. Munroe and his wife Dorothy ("Dot"). Prof. Munroe, one of Delaware's best known and most respected historians, was named H. Rodney Sharp Professor of History in 1962. Dorothy Munroe remains an active member of the UD community.

Maria Aristigueta is professor and director of the School of Public Policy and Administration.

Her teaching and research interests are primarily in the areas of performance management and organizational behavior, and she also works with the school's Institute for Public Administration to assist state and local agencies and nonprofits.

Aristigueta is the author of Managing for Results in State Government and Civil Society in Cuba and coauthor of Organizational Behavior in the Public and Non-Profit Sectors and Practice-Based Performance Management: An International Handbook. She recently hosted the Third Transatlantic Dialogue with European colleagues at UD.

She received her bachelor's degree in social work and master's degree in public administration from the University of South Florida in 1977 and 1980, respectively. She earned a doctorate in public administration at the University of Southern California in 1997.

James Magee specializes in American constitutional law and the United States Supreme Court.

Magee is a three-time recipient of the University's Excellence in Teaching Award and twice received the University's Excellence in Advising and Mentoring Award. He teaches courses in U.S. constitutional law, judicial process and American politics, and directs a UD study abroad program in Italy.

In 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2010, he served as academic director of the Middle East Partnership Initiative student leadership program, hosted at the University through a grant from the U.S. Department of State.

Author of Freedom of Expression (2002) and Mr. Justice Black (1982), he is currently conducting research on the jurisprudence of Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. From 2002 until 2007, he served as chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations.

Magee earned his doctorate from the University of Virginia in 1975 and joined the department in 1976.

The Hugh M. Morris Professor of Political Science and International Relations is named after Hugh M. Morris, a graduate of then-Delaware College in 1898 who served as U.S. District Judge for Delaware from 1919-1930. In 1964, the University named its new library the Hugh M. Morris Library in his honor.