Exterior view of Sawyer Library

A new center dedicated to helping Williams professors hone their craft will benefit from a $10 million commitment from Joseph Lee Rice III ’54 and Franci L. Blassberg.

The Joseph Lee Rice III 1954 Center for Teaching, located on the main level of Sawyer Library, will be a centralized hub for programs, workshops and resources focused on teaching and pedagogy. Starting July 1, 2023, Matt Carter, associate professor of biology, will serve a three-year term as the center’s inaugural faculty director. Susan Engel, senior lecturer in psychology and the Class of 1959 Director of the Program in Teaching, will serve two years as senior faculty fellow. Together they will consult with faculty on their needs and interests, develop programming and resources, and help design the center’s physical space and online presence.

“I have always felt that the heart of the institution is its faculty, and anything that I can do to support them should be done.”

Joseph Lee Rice III ’54

Carter says the center “will inspire and support effective teaching strategies, creativity and experimentation in the classroom and practices that provide for inclusion and well-being. Because effective teaching promotes intellectual growth and meaningful experiences in and out of the classroom, the ultimate beneficiaries will be our students.”

Rice’s financial commitment is just the latest expression of his ongoing support of Williams faculty. “I have always felt that the heart of the institution is its faculty,” he says, “and anything that I can do to support them should be done.”