College of the Atlantic creates endowed chair

College of the Atlantic campus, in Bar Harbor

Courtesy / College of the Atlantic College of the Atlantic, which is based in Bar Harbor, announced a new endowed faculty position to honor a longtime trustee, colleague and alumna who died in 2018 after a battle with ALS.

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By Staff

Bar Harbor-based College of the Atlantic on Tuesday unveiled an endowed economics chair position to honor longtime trustee, colleague and alumna Cody van Heerden, who died in 2008 after a battle with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

The Cody van Heerden Chair in Economics and Quantitative Social Sciences will be held by COA faculty member Davis Taylor, who had been van Heerden’s professor, mentor and friend. Taylor said that it was a great honor to be the first in the position.

“Cody embodied the finest qualities of a human ecologist: great intellectual curiosity, dedication to rigor and detail, and an empathetic approach to improving the world,” Taylor said in a news release. “Cody was inspiring to work with. Her research significantly expanded our understanding of institutional change in the Maine lobster industry.”

Van Heerden, who received one of her three master’s degrees from College of the Atlantic in 2017, was an integral part of the COA family, mentoring students, hosting events, and sharing her insights with faculty and staff, said Darron Collins, the school's president and a 1992 alumnus.

“Cody was a remarkable human being and I cannot think of a better way to honor her and her family than to establish this chair,” Collins said. “Her sense of wonder and adventure were perfectly aligned with our institutional ethos. I miss her every day, but am excited we can remember her like this.”

The establishment of the chair is part of the school's ongoing $50 million capital campaign, its largest ever, to endow new student scholarships and faculty positions, create state-of-the-art, environmentally sustainable academic and residential spaces and become a fossil fuel-free campus.

The campaign has raised $44.5 million in 23 months, the school said this week.