Culver-Stockton awards highest honor to two retiring faculty members

CANTON, Mo. — The Culver-Stockton College Board of Trustees recently voted to confer the title Professor Emerita to Debra Scoggin-Myers and the Professor Emeritus title to Patrick Hotle.

The title of “emerita” (female) or “emeritus” (male) often is given to a person retiring from professional life, along with continued rights to participate in campus events. That person is permitted to retain the rank of the last office held as an honorary title.

In a press release, President Lauren Schellenberger said, “These honorary titles are very prestigious, and both of these professors are extraordinarily deserving of the distinction. Our campus community has been fortunate to have had both Debra and Patrick become such a significant part of our academic mission while they served in their respective fields, and we are honored that they will remain a part of the C-SC family as emeriti.”

Myers taught art for more than 40 years. She began her career with C-SC in 2010 as a lecturer before her promotion to senior lecturer and eventually assistant professor. She has since chaired the art and design department and served as the curator of the Mabee Gallery on the C-SC campus.

She holds numerous memberships in professional art organizations and is highly active in community art initiatives. Her involvement has earned her several awards throughout her career, including the 2023 Helsabeck Prize for Excellence in Teaching, presented to her during C-SC’s convocation. She earned her bachelor of fine arts in painting and drawing from Columbia College and her master of fine arts in painting and drawing from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Hotle began his career with C-SC in 1993 after nearly 13 years of teaching history and the humanities to students in Iowa, Nicaragua, Egypt, Belgium, England and the Netherlands. He was instrumental in establishing the study abroad program at C-SC, enabling students to expand their studies in countries including Israel, southeast Asia, England, Italy, central Europe and Turkey.

He was named the John Sperry Jr. Endowed Chair in Humanities in 2003. He was the recipient of C-SC’s Helsabeck Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2009 and was awarded the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1999 from the Missouri Department of Higher Education. Hotle was awarded the President’s Award for Exemplary Service of a Faculty Member during the May 2023 Honors Convocation.

Hotle has served on numerous academic committees, given presentations and lectured throughout the country. He has authored several academic papers, handbooks, policies and books. He is writing a textbook about Palestine’s history. He earned his bachelor of arts in history and social studies education from the University of Iowa, and a master of science in philosophy and international relations from the University of Cambridge in England, where he also obtained his doctorate in history.