Drs. Hood and Wessinger Retire

As the academic year ends, we recognize with deep gratitude two distinguished retiring faculty members whose careers have left a lasting mark on Loyola. Craig Hood, the E.L. Beard Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences, joined Loyola as an assistant professor in 1986, chaired the Department of Biological Sciences from 1992-95, 2000-03, and 2007 to 2012, and served as director of the Environment Program from 2014 to 2019 and again from 2022 to 2024. Catherine Wessinger, formerly the Rev. H. James Yamauchi, S.J. Professor of the History of Religions and later the Vernon Gregson Professor of Religious Studies, also began her Loyola career in 1986 and is the author or editor of nine books, including Theory of Women in Religions (New York University Press, 2020). We thank both Dr. Hood and Dr. Wessinger for their many years of extraordinary service, scholarship, and dedication to Loyola and its students.