Shuchi Kapila and Nicole Eikmeier honored at endowed installation ceremony
Two Grinnell College faculty members were celebrated for their exceptional contributions to scholarship and teaching during the 2025 Endowed Chair and Professors Installation Ceremony Feb. 6 in Herrick Chapel.
English professor Shuchi Kapila was appointed as the Maxeiner/Baumann-Payne Endowed Chair. Nicole Eikmeier, assistant professor of computer science, was appointed as the inaugural holder of the Luebke-Sproehnle Endowed Junior Faculty Professorship.
“Faculty such as these two outstanding individuals are the ones who make Grinnell the institution that it is,” Trustee Angela Onwuachi-Willig ’94 said during the ceremony. “Endowed chairs fundamentally enrich the institution, not only in the present but in ways that resonate for generations to come. We want to express our gratitude to all the visionary donors who have recognized this and seized the opportunity to make such contributions over the years.”
The Maxeiner/Baumann-Payne Endowed Chair was established by C. William Maxeiner ’36. He created the chair as an expression of gratitude for all that the College provided to him and to honor the memory of his faculty mentors in history, English, and religious studies.
The Luebke-Sproehnle Endowed Junior Faculty Professorship was established by Sarah Luebke Sproehnle ’00 in 2022 to provide support for a faculty member in the Computer Science Department with preference for efforts that encourage and support women, members of the BIPOC community, or individuals with other identities that have been historically underrepresented in computer science.
– By Jeremy Shapiro