Timeline

1998 - W&L President John Elrod convenes an informal meeting with 8-10 faculty and asked, "whether the university was doing enough to educate students about the environmental challenges of their lifetime." Afterwards he appoints a committee to look into the question and make recommendations. Ken Ruscio (future W&L President) serves as chair. Others on the committee included Larry Hurd (Biology), Jim Warren (English), Bob Akins (Physics), Greg Cooper (Philosophy), and Dave Harbor (Geology). Chuck Boggs (Philosophy) was on leave at the time but is also consulted.

1999 - The committee frames an interdisciplinary minor which was ultimately approved as a "concentration" and an ENVS Program Committee is formed.

1999 - W&L receives a Virginia Foundation for the Humanities grant submitted by the ENVS committee for a program on working with the local community. This supports a series of workshops with local officials on planning, community development with sustainability in mind, etc.

2000 - The university receives a grant from the Jessie Ball DuPont foundation which includes three-year funding to hire a Director for Environmental Studies, which is defined as an academic position with tenure. There is a commitment from the university to continue the funding for the position after the expiration of the grant.

2000 - First students graduate with a "concentration" in Environmental Studies.

2001 - Jim Kahn is hired as the first Director of the Environmental Studies Program.

2002 - Earle Bates commits annual gift to support Environmental Studies.

2006 - The major in Environmental Studies is approved and the "concentration" is dropped.

2007 - W&L receives a second grant from the Jesse Ball DuPont Foundation to develop a place-based learning curriculum focused on Chesapeake Watershed health. This grant includes funding to hire a new tenure-track assistant professor with joint teaching responsibilities in Environmental Studies and Biology, with a commitment from the university to continue funding the position when the grant runs out.

2008 - Robert Humston is hired with an appointment in Biology and a joint teaching load in Environmental Studies.

2008 - The minor in Environmental Studies is approved.

2008 - The first students graduate with a major in Environmental Studies.

2010 - The first students graduate with a minor in Environmental Studies.

2017 - Jim Kahn is elected President of the US Society for Ecological Economics, and steps down from the position of Director. Robert Humston is named as the new Director of the program.

2017 - Earle Bates bequeaths a gift of his estate to the university endowment to support Environmental Studies.

2018 - The university receives a gift from the family of John K. Spencer to fund an endowed directorship in Environmental Studies.  Robert Humston is named the inaugural Director.

2018 - The university approves two new positions in Environmental Studies. One is a new tenure-track faculty appointment full-time in Environmental Studies from the emerging field of Environmental Humanities. The second creates the new position of Program Coordinator, a full-time staff position supporting curricular and co-curricular initiatives in Environmental Studies.

2019 - The Environmental Studies major curriculum is updated to include elective tracks.  Those tracks are: Climate Change, Conservation Biology, Environmental Economics, Environmental Humanities, and Water Resources

2019 - Chelsea Fisher is hired as the first full-time, tenure-track faculty member in Environmental Studies.

2019 - Debra Frein is hired as new Program Coordinator in Environmental Studies.

2020 - A new Sustainable Commerce elective track is added to the curriculum.

2023 - Mauricio Betancourt is hired as a full-time faculty member in Environmental Studies.

2024 - Ryan McCoy and Catarina Passidomo are hired as full-time faculty members in Environmental Studies.