The South Lawn Todd Heidt
Greg Gilbert Greg has taught at Knox since 1995, first as a visiting professor and then in a tenure-track position. He received his Ph.D. and master’s in art history from Rutgers University, and his B.F.A. in art history from the University of Kansas. Greg also has graduate certification in museum studies from Rutgers University and served from 2009 to 2011 as senior curator at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa. His primary research focus is the early career of the abstract expressionist artist Robert Motherwell, and he was named the 2015 Dedalus Foundation Visiting Scholar at the Archives of American Art Fellowship for his research. While receiving the Philip Green Wright/Lombard College Prize for Distinguished Teaching is his most memorable moment at Knox, Greg says that he’s always gratified to see his majors present their senior research— “I marvel at their strong academic development and intellectual maturation.” His tool: A framed Eric Gill print from the Knox art collection in Special Collections and Archives, which currently hangs in his office. It represents both his specialty in twentiethcentury art and the College’s strong holdings in fine art prints, which he says “needs to be more widely known.”
Todd, who received his Ph.D. in Germanic studies and bachelor’s in German literature from the University of Cincinnati, as well as master’s in Germanic studies from the University of Chicago, came to Knox in 2009. Knox is, according to him, klein aber fein, or small but great. “When I tell colleagues about the range of students in a typical Knox classroom, they are shocked that I am talking about a liberal arts college on the Illinois prairie,” he adds. He is currently researching Mario von Bucovich, an Austrian-born photographer. His tool: A Sigmund Freud bobblehead. “During grad school, Freud was on my desk, positioned next to my computer staring at me,” he explains. “Since coming to Knox, I’ve positioned Freud to look away from me and at students, who love to reach out and make his head softly bobble while we talk.” A bit of trivia: Leading students to Berlin and Istanbul on the study and travel program European Identities in winter 2014 was a “dream come true.”
A bit of trivia: Galesburg is definitely the smallest place Greg has ever lived, but “it has been a pleasant town to call home.”
KNOX MAGAZINE Fall 2015
35