When approached about being the subject of a “Washington People” profile, Mark Rollins, Ph.D., happily agreed. However, he said, “I should warn you, it will be short. I don’t have much to say.”
Pretty humble for a man who has been at the University for 18 years, held such varied positions as head of the Summer School and chair of the Department of Philosophy, both in Arts & Sciences, and is known for his work in the philosophy of cognitive science and the philosophy of mind, as well as in aesthetics.
“Mark Rollins has been an inspiring faculty member and chair of the philosophy department,” said Edward S. Macias, Ph.D., executive vice chancellor, dean of Arts & Sciences and the Barbara and David Thomas Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences.
“He has excelled in so many areas — in research, teaching and administration. He played a key role in developing several interdisciplinary programs and was an excellent director of the Summer School. Now, as chair of the Department of Philosophy, he has overseen the rebuilding of our department. I can’t stress enough how important his leadership has been in the philosophy department.”
Rollins, also associate professor of philosophy, was appointed as assistant professor in 1987 after earning a doctorate from Columbia University in 1986 with a dissertation titled The Mental Imagery Debate.
While at Columbia, he became interested in aesthetics and philosophy of mind, as well as cognitive science, which was then emerging as an area of important interdisciplinary research.
“As I was starting to write my dissertation, a debate arose over whether cognitive science should posit visual images as playing a role in perception, memory or thinking,” Rollins said.
At that time, a lot of researchers were heavily influenced by classical computer models and had the view that any theory that explained human cognition and perception should treat what goes on in the mind as like what goes in a computer. This means thoughts and perceptions have to be explained in terms of the manipulation of language-like symbols.
Rollins has written or edited several books on imagery and related topics, including Mental Imagery: On the Limits of Cognitive Science, Begetting Images: Studies in the Art and Science of Symbol Production and Danto and His Critics. He is working to complete a book titled Minding the Brain, which concerns the relation of perception to thought.
After coming to WUSTL, Rollins began to teach courses on theories of perception and philosophy of mind.
In 1997, he was named associate dean in University College and director of the Summer School, a position he enjoyed.
He was attracted to the position after he taught a course in the master of liberal arts program a few summers before he was hired. He was intrigued by the opportunity to learn about the workings of the University in all its dimensions, because the Summer School involves nearly every department on the Hilltop Campus.
“Working in the Summer School was a very rewarding experience,” he said. “We introduced faculty teaching grants, had increased enrollments and developed a strong high-school summer honors program while I was there.”
Rollins returned to the philosophy department in 2001 as chair.
The department is currently experiencing a renaissance of sorts, with a growing number of graduate and undergraduate students, many new professors and the success of the Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology (PNP) Program in Arts & Sciences.
That program started in 1993, when Roger Gibson was chair, as a graduate program through a grant of $1,320,000 from the James S. McDonnell Foundation; an additional grant of $880,000 was made in 1995. Subsequently, the program was expanded to include an undergraduate second major, with the first students graduating in 1999.
“PNP was designed to give students a basic training in philosophy so that they could get jobs teaching in philosophy departments, but also to give them some grounding in psychology or neuroscience so that they could engage with scientists studying the mind or brain,” Rollins said.
“It’s been a very successful program. A number of very good graduate students and postdoctoral fellows have gone through the program, and it’s well-known throughout the country and the world.”
|
Mark Rollins University title: Associate professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy in Arts & Sciences Research Interests: Philosophy of cognitive science, philosophy of mind and aesthetics Family: Married to Cynthia Richards. The couple has a 16-year-old daughter, Alison Hobbies: Riding horses and cheering on the WUSTL women’s basketball team |
Due in part to the success and recognition of PNP, student enrollment in the philosophy department has increased dramatically over the last several years.
“When I started here, I think there were 13 philosophy majors and a few minors,” Rollins said. “Last year, there were 70 majors and minors and around 60 PNP majors, totaling a 10-fold increase since I arrived.
“This year, PNP has become a primary major for the first time, and we expect to attract even more students that way. Combined enrollments have also gone up 50-60 percent during this time. It’s very exciting.”
Three or four years ago, several professors in the department left or retired, so Rollins and his colleagues needed to do a substantial amount of hiring.
“When I started as chair two years ago, we began hiring new people; and during those two years, we’ve hired seven new people, six of them full or associate professors, and all of them terrific additions to the department,” he said. “A number have been in PNP, but we’ve also hired people in value theory and are planning to recruit in the history of philosophy as well.
“Like any department, there are ebbs and flows, but we are definitely on an upward trajectory. It’s been very gratifying to be able to hire these talented and reputable people.”
Rollins greatly enjoys working at the University.
“I grew up in a small farming community in Oklahoma and went to graduate school in New York,” he said. “I like St. Louis because it’s right in between, both geographically and culturally. I think WUSTL mirrors that in the academic setting.
“There is a lot of intellectual talent and the kind of research you expect from a leading university. But there is also a progressive attitude here, and it’s a very congenial place to be.
“The emphasis is on cooperation. The central administration has been very supportive, and I’ve had some really good colleagues through the years.”
Rollins said much has been accomplished since his arrival here.
“I think we began with a vision in the philosophy department that we’ve been fortunate to see realized to a significant extent,” he said. “The PNP program has become an important part of the department. It’s something with which people associate the name of the University, and it’s brought us some very good graduate students.
“We all, as faculty, benefit from that. We clearly wanted to keep that program strong and also move it in some new directions, and I think we certainly have.
“At the same time, we have added to strengths we already had in other areas, in particular, ethics and social and political philosophy.”
Rollins is proud of the hiring the department has done over the past few years, and he hopes the trend continues.
“This year, we will be trying to fill two positions in history of philosophy,” he said. “My thought was to solidify the strengths of the department and enhance the training students are getting in traditional philosophy, which we’ve done through continued hiring.
“Now I’d like to focus on giving philosophy more of a presence on campus and more of an impact on students.
“We have a lot more majors than we’ve ever had, but I think we can do even more. The potential interest in philosophy for students is great, and it’s a good major for them, whether they go to medical school, law school or business school.
“Enrollments have been increasing, but I think we can increase enrollments even more; and I’d like to see philosophy continue to play a role in interdisciplinary programs on campus.”
Rollins is married to Cynthia Richards, who earned a doctorate in comparative literature in Arts & Sciences from WUSTL last year.
The couple has a 16-year-old daughter, Alison, with whom Rollins enjoys biking on the Katy Trail and riding horses. Alison is a big fan of WUSTL women’s basketball, a passion the whole family shares.
Rollins hopes the success of the philosophy department can continue to mirror that of the highly ranked women’s basketball team.
“I’m really excited about where the department is right now, and I think we will see continual growth over the next several years,” he said.