Gilles named director of Frederik Meijer Honors College

Roger Gilles has been named the new director of the Frederik Meijer Honors College at Grand Valley. His appointment to the position follows a year of service as the interim director.

Gilles said he plans to review the curriculum for the college and is looking forward to working with students on a personal basis. 

"I'm still learning a lot about the Honors College, but what I've seen is that it's Grand Valley, distilled," Gilles said. "Honors students make the most of their experience and engage in the classroom, and it allows our faculty to do many more amazing things. It's a great, great situation."

Anne Hiskes, dean of the Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies, said she has been impressed with Gilles' leadership in the college and his ability to facilitate productive, collegial and collaborative dialogue around revisions to the Honors curriculum. 

Gilles said his year as interim director was an eye-opening experience as he got to know many of the incoming honors students. 

"They really are impressive people, and I feel humbled by them," Gilles said. "They seem so much more mature and ambitious and focused than I was at that age, so they've really impressed me."

Gilles is a professor of writing at Grand Valley, having joined the English Department faculty in 1992. He served as the chair of the English Department and was the inaugural chair of Grand Valley's writing department. Gilles also led the general education committee as chair while the university engaged in discussions around implementing new general education structures.

He is the author of a forthcoming book, Women on the Move: The Forgotten Era of Women's Bicycle Racing and the co-editor of Directed Self-Placement: Principles and Practices.

He earned a doctorate in the areas of rhetoric and composition from the University of Arizona.

Learn more about the Honors College at gvsu.edu/honors.