Assistant Professor of Education James Stillwaggon has been appointed the Director of the Iona College Honors Program. Stillwaggon has been with Iona College for six years, and he currently specializes in the philosophy of education and the role of diversity in democratic schooling. He joined the Honors Program earlier this year as an Assistant Director. 

Stillwaggon graduated with Honors from Loyola College with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. He then joined Teach for America in North Carolina, where he was named Teacher of the Year by his district. Continuing his own education, Stillwaggon studied aesthetics and phenomenology at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, and then pursued a PhD in Philosophy and Education at Teachers College in Columbia University. 

When asked about his goals as the Honors Program Director, Stillwaggon said,

“I was a freshman in Loyola College’s Honors Program when I made the mistake of picking up the college’s glossy alumni magazine, in which the recently appointed Honors Director was interviewed. ‘We’re expecting big things from these students in the next ten years,’ was the featured quote, set aside in larger font, that made my stomach drop. I felt like it was too much pressure. Today, after getting to know some of Iona’s Honors students, I can’t help but feel that same sense of expectation and thrill at all they will achieve and experience in the world.”

The Ionian congratulates Stillwaggon in his new position and wishes him all the best.

For more information about Stillwaggon’s appointment, visit the News Release at Iona’s homepage.