Professor Named Member of Two Boards
Gretchen J. Van Dyke, Ph.D., associate professor and acting chair of the Political Science Department at The University of Scranton, was named to the Lilly Fellows Program National Network Board and the Friendship House Board of Directors.Gretchen J. Van Dyke, Ph.D., associate professor and acting chair of the Political Science Department at The University of Scranton, was recently selected to serve as a member on both the Lilly Fellows Program National Network Board and the Friendship House Board of Directors.
Dr. Van Dyke will undertake her second four-year term on the Lilly Fellows Program National Network Board beginning this April. The organization seeks to enhance the character of church-related institutions of learning through the promotion of Christian leadership, teaching, scholarship, and interaction with similar institutions. The University of Scranton first became a member of the Lilly Network in 1996, and Dr. Van Dyke has served as the University’s faculty representative to the Lilly Fellows Program since 2000. The University also hosted the Lilly Fellows Program National Conference in 2013, at which Dr. Van Dyke served as the conference chair. From 2016-2019, she served as a mentor for the 9th cohort of the Lilly’s Graduate Fellows Program.
Dr. Van Dyke began her three-year term on the Friendship House Board of Directors in January 2021. Founded by a local group of women in 1871, the organization originally sought to care for the poor and “friendless” women and children of Scranton. It has since expanded, now serving adults with mental illness and/or developmental disabilities, as well as families and their children with autism, emotional difficulties, behavioral difficulties, and/or trauma. As a board member, Dr. Van Dyke will apply her knowledge in the areas of social justice and humanitarianism to assist those with such needs within the Scranton and surrounding communities.
Dr. Van Dyke also recently received a Provost award from the University. Her award, the “Excellence in Advancing Global Learning Award,” recognizes faculty members who have demonstrated remarkable academic leadership in integrating international issues and perspectives into the curriculum. In 2013 she was recognized with a Provost Award for “Excellence in Integrating Mission and Justice into the Curriculum.”
Dr. Van Dyke joined the political science faculty at Scranton in 1994. In addition to teaching courses related to international relations and American government, she has also taught and developed courses that address contemporary questions of war and peace, social justice and humanitarianism.
Dr. Van Dyke earned her bachelor’s degree from Trinity College in Washington D.C. Later, following three years of work in the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill, she completed her master’s degree and Ph.D. in foreign affairs at the University of Virginia.
