By Jeff B. Pool
Eli Lilly Chair in Religion and Culture
Professor of Religion
In 1920, Mr. Henry D. Woods of Newton, Massachusetts donated funds to establish a named professorship in honor of Henry Mixter Penniman.1 The endowed academic chair received the descriptive designation as a “Professorship in Philosophy and Bible,” because the Department in which Henry Mixter Penniman had served at Berea College carried that title at the time when the College established this named professorship. In 2003, however, with the move of this professorship into exclusive support for the philosophical faculty of the College, the institutional administrators changed the name of this professorship to the “Henry Mixter Penniman Chair in Philosophy.”
Rev. Henry Mixter Penniman, appointed as Assistant to the President and Professor of Christian Evidences, began working at Berea College in the academic year of 1895–96.2 Although Penniman held the academic title, “Professor of Christian Evidences,” he worked primarily in institutional advancement, as the College’s primary fundraiser, serving initially as Assistant to the President of Berea College, William Goodell Frost, then later as Assistant to the President in Field Work for President William James Hutchins.3 Although Penniman retired from the College in 1922, he continued to serve as Assistant Emeritus to the President (Wm. James Hutchins) in Field Work for several additional years.4
Although the College had established this named professorship in 1920 during the final years in the tenure of Penniman himself, the College did not appoint anyone to this academic chair until 1952. Since the establishment of this professorship, the following members of the College Faculty have held this academic chair: William Gordon Ross (Christian minister and theologian); George Sherer Noss (Christian minister and theologian); Ira Jay Martin, III (Christian minister and theologian); John Wallhauser (Christian minister and theologian); Robert W. Hoag (Anglo-American analytic philosopher); and Eric R. Pearson (Anglo-American analytic philosopher).
William Gordon Ross came to Berea College in 1930 and retired in 1968, after a lengthy and distinguished career. He received appointment to the Henry Mixter Penniman Professorship in Philosophy and Bible in 1952, holding that chair until 1962, when he received appointment to another named professorship: the William J. Hutchins Alumni Professor of Philosophy and Religion.5 He held that new academic chair until his retirement in 1968. Ross held the following academic degrees: B.A., Drury College (1926); B.D., Union Theological Seminary (1930); and Ph.D. (in philosophy), Columbia University (1942).6
George Sherer Noss began teaching at Berea College in 1945. Noss held the following academic degrees: B.A., Bowdoin College (1920); B.D., Union Theological Seminary (1930); S.T.M., Union Theological Seminary (1937); and Th.D., Union Theological Seminary (1943).7 In 1963, following William Gordon Ross’s new appointment to the William J. Hutchins Alumni Professorship of Philosophy and Religion in 1962, Noss received appointment to the Henry Mixter Penniman Professorship in Philosophy and Bible, which Noss held until his own retirement in 1966.8
Ira Jay Martin, III joined the faculty of Berea College in 1944.9 He held the following academic degrees: Ph.B., Brown University (1933); B.D., Andover-Newton School of Theology (1936); and Th.D., Boston University (1942).10 Upon George Sherer Noss’s retirement in 1966, Ira Jay Martin received the appointment to the Henry Mixter Penniman Professorship in Philosophy and Bible, which Martin then held until his own retirement in 1977 from Berea College.11
John Walhauser (1989–2003)
John Wallhauser joined the faculty of Berea College in 1975, initially serving as an Eli Lilly Visiting Professor of Religion.12 He held the following academic degrees: B.S., University of Pittsburgh (1954); B.D., Yale University Divinity School (1957); and Ph.D., Yale University (1965). In 1989, John Wallhauser received the appointment to the Henry Mixter Penniman Professorship in Philosophy and Bible, which Wallhauser then held until he retired from Berea College in 2003.13
Robert W. Hoag (2003–19)
Robert W. Hoag joined the faculty of Berea College in 1983, as Assistant Professor of Philosophy. He held the following academic degrees: B.A., Davidson College (1976); M.A., University of Virginia (1980); and Ph.D., University of Virginia (1983).14 Following the retirement of John Wallhauser in 2003, Robert W. Hoag received the appointment to the Henry Mixter Penniman Professorship in Philosophy and Bible, which academic chair Hoag also held until his retirement from Berea College in 2019.15
Eric R. Pearson (2020–present)
Eric R. Pearson joined the faculty of Berea College in 1991, as Assistant Professor of Philosophy. He holds the following academic degrees: B.Phil., Cornell College (1982); and Ph.D., Syracuse University (1990).16 Following the retirement of Robert W. Hoag in 2019, Eric Pearson received the appointment to the Henry Mixter Penniman Chair in Philosophy, which academic chair Pearson currently holds.17