Central College announces Paulina Mena, professor of biology, as the new Ruth and Marvin Denekas Endowed Chair in Science and Humanities. Mena’s accolades were announced during the 2024 Commencement ceremony.
“Dr. Paulina Mena demonstrates a commitment to student success and creates a learning environment where students feel they belong and are active participants in their learning,” stated Mark Putnam, Central president. “I’m honored to appoint Dr. Mena. She is a skilled, student-focused educator who sets high standards and endeavors to empower her students to achieve those standards.”
“Dr. Mena creates a classroom environment where students are expected to be active, reflective and engaged learners,” Putnam said during the ceremony. “Applied case studies and hands-on experience for students where they conduct a semester-long experiment contribute to her goal to help students begin to discover and learn as scientists.”
Mena’s teaching reaches beyond the sciences and includes courses such as The Intersection Between Science and Society, Exploring Ethics in Science, From Lady Bugs to Lady Gaga, and The Buzz Around Bees.
“I am so grateful to have been appointed to such a great honor. I am passionate about science, teaching it and bringing students into my native bee research,” Mena says. “My years at Central have been so fulfilling because I have been supported in expanding beyond science and exploring the liberal arts through teaching and service.
“I am honored to be the first Latina appointed to an endowed chair at Central. I hope it helps inspire women, people of color and others from groups that are underrepresented in academia to work with the knowledge that at Central your contributions will be recognized, and the college will invest in you,” Mena says.
Mena joined the Central faculty in 2009. Recently, she was named the Faculty Fellow for Inclusive Pedagogy and led the faculty professional development seminar on inclusive teaching practices and other teaching-focused trainings and workshops.
“Paulina is intentional about fostering collaborative relationships among students, faculty, administrators and the broader community,” Putnam adds. “She accelerated broader institutional efforts to make Central a more welcoming and inclusive campus. I congratulate Dr. Mena on this honor.”
The Ruth and Marvin Denekas Endowed Chair in Science and Humanities recognizes a Central faculty member who has demonstrated exemplary teaching and scholarship and the ability to cross disciplinary boundaries. The endowed chair was created with a portion of the Marvin “Mike” Denekas $2 million estate gift to Central.
Established in 2006, this endowed chair memorializes the lives of Marvin Denekas, a 1932 Central graduate, and his wife Ruth Mary, who graduated from the Ohio State University and Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Cleveland, Ohio.
The Denekas Chair offers the college a chance to acknowledge and reinforce its institutional commitment to the liberal arts. The faculty member appointed by the president to the chair must hold a doctoral degree, be recognized as a faculty member who has demonstrated exemplary teaching and scholarship and the ability to cross disciplinary boundaries. The faculty member appointed should personify the Denekas’ wishes to foster excellence in the education of Central students.
