Catherine Rymph
Nov. 2, 2022
Contact: Pate McCuien, 573-882-4870, McCuienp@missouri.edu
The University of Missouri Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Latha Ramchand announced that Catherine Rymph, the interim director of the Honors College, has been named as the permanent dean of the college.
“During her time as interim director, Dr. Rymph has made several necessary faculty and staff hires, created more honors opportunities for students in the sciences, designed a strategic plan and relocated MedOpp Advising and the Office of Global and National Fellowships under the Honors College,” Ramchand said. “She has served in a variety of leadership roles in her time here, and I’m extremely excited to see the growth of this program under Dr. Rymph’s leadership.”
Rymph joined the history department at MU in 2000 and has served as department chair, interim chair of the Department of Religious Studies, director of undergraduate studies in history, chair of the Campus Writing Board and as a member of the MU Research Council. Rymph was honored for her teaching in 2018 with the Gold Chalk Award for excellence in Graduate Teaching.
“It is an honor to be appointed to this role,” Rymph said. “Founded in 1958, the Honors College has long served as one of Mizzou’s most prestigious programs. The college offers students in all undergraduate majors access to a rich and dynamic learning environment, small and innovative courses, and opportunities to pursue research and creative projects with faculty mentors. I look forward to honoring the alumni base of over 13,000 graduates by guiding our current students as they pursue their passions and discover their potential.”
Rymph focuses her research and teaching on women and American politics, public policy and child welfare. She is an affiliate of the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy and the Department of Women and Gender Studies, and her areas of expertise include 20th century United States history, welfare policy and women’s history. She is also the author of two books: Raising Government Children: A history of Foster Care and the American Welfare State and Republican Women: Feminism and Conservativism from Suffrage to the Rise of the New Right (2006).
Rymph received a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and a doctoral degree from the University of Iowa.
