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Professor Ty Tessitore Appointed to New Faculty Chair


Last updated November 16, 2016

By News administrator

Furman University political science professor Aristide (Ty) Tessitore has been appointed to the newly established Jane Hipp Professorship in Western and American Political Thought at the university.

The professorship was created in honor of the late Jane Gage Fishburne Hipp of Greenville, a lifelong devotee of the liberal arts who drew enduring sustenance from her engagement with thinkers such as William Shakespeare, John Locke and Alexis de Tocqueville.

Her family established the Jane Hipp Professorship in Western and American Political Thought to “ensure that subsequent generations of Furman students are afforded an opportunity to discover the rich complexity of this political and cultural tradition, and to acquire the self-knowledge that is essential to a mature appreciation of diverse world cultures.”

Funds from the Hipp endowment will also be used to support the activities of Furman’s Tocqueville Program, which sponsors a range of courses and guest speakers intended to awaken in students a lifelong love of learning and deep gratitude for the kind of freedom that allows them to pursue it.

“This new professorship supports the vision of The Furman Advantage, which is to provide our students with a transformative education that prepares them for lives of meaning and purpose after they graduate,” said George Shields, Furman’s Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost.  “We are grateful for Jane Hipp’s love and passion for the liberal arts and for her family’s efforts to establish this important professorship in her memory.”

Dr. Tessitore is a graduate of Assumption College and received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Boston College.  He is the author of Reading Aristotle’s Ethics (State University of New York Press, 1996), and is the editor of Aristotle and Modern Politics (University of Notre Dame Press, 2002).

He has published numerous book chapters and articles in classical and modern political philosophy. His articles have appeared in American Political Science Review, Political Theory, Journal of Politics, American Political Thought, Polity, Review of Politics, Southern Journal of Philosophy, Perspectives on Political Science, and Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy.

Tessitore has taught a wide range of courses at Furman, often in an interdisciplinary context, and is a recipient of the university’s award for teaching excellence.  Together with Furman political science professor Benjamin Storey, Tessitore co-founded the Tocqueville Program and serves as its co-director.

For more information, contact the Furman News and Media Relations office at 864-294-3107.

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