John G. Milton has been named the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor in Computational Neuroscience at The Claremont Colleges. His appointment is at the Joint Sciences Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and Scripps Colleges.
Milton, whose appointment was approved by the Board of Trustees of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and Scripps Colleges, begins work at The Claremont Colleges in July 2004. Milton has been a professor in the Department of Neurology for the past 15 years at the University of Chicago Medical School. He earned both his M.D. and Ph.D. in Biophysical Chemistry from McGill University.
Dr. Milton’s clinical interests focus on the treatment and management of patients with medically intractable epilepsy. In addition, Milton is actively involved in developing treatment strategies to improve the quality of life of mentally challenged individuals who have epilepsy and their caregivers.
The position in computational neuroscience at The Claremont Colleges grew out of a developing intercollegiate neuroscience program that involves undergraduate students and faculty in departments of biology, psychology, philosophy, and engineering. It reflects the Colleges’ interest in building bridges spanning these various disciplines. Both undergraduate and graduate students are keenly interested in this emerging field.
Brenda Barham Hill, CEO of Claremont University Consortium (CUC), noted “Dr. Milton will take a leadership role in the intercollegiate, interdisciplinary neuroscience program. He has demonstrated the enthusiasm for learning, commitment to teaching and a sincere personal interest in students that will broaden the learning process and make an effective contribution to all of the Colleges. CUC is pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Milton to assume this prestigious national chair.”
Dr. Alan Jones, Dean of Pitzer College and Chair of the Search Committee noted, “Dr. Milton brings to Claremont an enormous enthusiasm for undergraduate education as well as a well defined research program which utilizes sophisticated computational techniques to examine the development of expertise for the performance of voluntary motor skills and the role that self–regulatory control mechanisms play in the emergence of such expertise.”
As The Claremont College’s William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor, Milton joins others on 55 campuses nationwide, who hold William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professorships. The William R. Kenan, Jr. Professorship was established in 1977 by a gift from the William Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust to Claremont University Consortium (CUC) to benefit all the undergraduate Claremont Colleges. The professorship was established “to support a professorial chair of distinction at CUC to honor Mr. Kenan and to support and encourage a scholar–teacher who will broaden the learning process and make an effective contribution to the undergraduate community.”
Born in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1872, William R. Kenan Jr. earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of North Carolina in 1894. An outstanding student, Kenan became an internationally known chemical and engineering adviser who participated in the discovery of calcium carbide and its use in the production of acetylene gas. William Rand Kenan Jr. was a chemist, engineer, industrialist, executive, farmer and philanthropist. In his autobiography, he noted that his life was shaped by the great professors who taught him, and it was his goal to aid universities in attracting the finest faculty.
Dr. Milton is the third faculty member in Claremont to hold this distinguished national chair; the professorship has been previously held by faculty in anthropology and political studies and Chicano studies.