Greg Haenel, assistant professor of biology, has been selected as the second recipient of the Japheth E. Rawls Professorship. The professorship encourages collaborative work between faculty and students who are involved in scientific research. Haenel will receive an annual salary supplement, supporting funds for travel and research materials, and grant funds to provide opportunities for student travel and research. Haenel will hold the rotating professorship for a three-year term.
The Rawls Professorship was created as a result of a gift by the estate of Dr. Japheth E. Rawls, Jr., MD ‘35 and Virginia Riddick Rawls of Suffolk, Va. The $735,000 endowment celebrates a century-long Rawls family legacy at Elon, dating back to 1890 when Japheth E. Rawls Sr. enrolled as one of the first students at Elon College. Eight Rawls siblings enrolled at Elon and in later years, many of their children and grandchildren became Elon graduates.
A member of the Council on Undergraduate Research, Haenel has mentored students in a variety of undergraduate research projects and supervised student internships. Student researchers working with Haenel have investigated mate choice in lizards and have used DNA fingerprinting to determine paternity of chimps born at the North Carolina Zoo.
Haenel joined the Elon faculty in 1998. He earned a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University.