Kalamazoo College has appointed four faculty members as endowed chairs, recognizing their achievements as professors. Endowed chairs are positions funded through the annual earnings from an endowed gift or gifts to the College. The honor reflects the value donors attribute to the excellent teaching and mentorship that occurs at K and how much donors want to see that excellence continue. The honorees are as follows.
Sarah Lindley, Robert W. and JoAnn Stewart Chair
Lindley, a professor of art, previously received an endowed professorship when she was named the Arcus Social Justice Leadership Professor of Art in 2017.
Since 2001, Lindley has taught a range of ceramics and sculpture courses, and has managed and maintained K’s ceramics, sculpture and woodshop studios and equipment. Lindley served as an Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership Faculty Fellow in 2010–11, and in that capacity helped found the Community Studio in downtown Kalamazoo’s Park Trades Center. She has had several solo, two-person and group exhibitions featuring her own work regionally, nationally and around the world.
Lindley earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in ceramics from the University of Washington.
Morgan Loechli, Dow Trustee Chair
Loechli, an assistant professor of physics, arrived at K in 2023 from Washtenaw Community College, where she was a part-time physics instructor while earning her doctorate.
Since then, Loechli has led six students in summer research and taught courses including Introductory Physics I and II, Introduction to Relativity and Quantum Physics, and Introduction to Climate Science. She conducted climate science research while earning her Ph.D. in applied physics at the University of Michigan. Loechli also has a master’s degree in applied physics from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics from Dickinson College.
Carlos Vazquez Cruz, Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Junior Chair
Vazquez Cruz has been an assistant professor of Spanish at K since 2022. His teaching interests include Spanish creative writing, Latin American contemporary narratives, Latin American poetry and the visual arts and music in Spanish Caribbean literatures. He has also written one hybrid book of mixed genres, two collections of stories, two novels, three collections of poetry and one book of essays, along with research articles in peer-reviewed journals. Five of his books have been awarded by the Puerto Rico PEN, and he received the Banco Santander Spanish Creative Writing Fellowship (NYU, 2008-2010), the New Voices Award (Festival de la Palabra de Puerto Rico, 2014) and the Letras Boricuas Fellowship (Flamboyán Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, 2022).
Vazquez Cruz holds a Ph.D. in Latin American literature with a graduate certificate in digital humanities from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master of Fine Arts in Spanish creative writing from New York University and a bachelor’s in Spanish education from the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras.
Lanny Potts, James Stone Senior Chair
Potts, a professor of theatre arts, arrived at K in 1987 as the technical director for K’s Festival Playhouse. In addition to teaching classes in areas such as scenic design, lighting design and stage management, Potts serves as artistic director of the Festival Playhouse Theatre.
The Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo awarded Potts last fall with a Community Medal of Arts. He also has received six Michigan Wilde Awards for Best Lighting for his work at Farmers Alley Theatre. At K, he earned the 2024–25 Lucasse Fellowship for Excellence in Scholarship, honoring his contributions in creative work, research and publication.
Potts has a Master of Fine Arts degree from Michigan State University and a bachelor’s degree from Valparaiso University.
