The Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges (VFIC) recognized the Rev. Dr. Bart A. Natoli, Professor of Classics and Classics Department Chair at Randolph-Macon College, with the 2025 Libby and Hiter Harris Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Wednesday afternoon.

The award, created through endowments by the H. Hiter Harris III family, was created to highlight the special features of VFIC colleges and universities by recognizing faculty members whose professional history reflects a strong, clear, and abiding commitment to excellence in classroom teaching within the undergraduate liberal arts and sciences. Recipients receive a stipend to support their scholarly research and professional development activities.

A classicist with a keen interest in constructions of sexuality, gender, race, and class in the ancient world, Natoli is known as an effective and engaging teacher at Randolph-Macon. He won Randolph-Macon’s Thomas Branch Excellence in Teaching Award—a student-selected honor—in 2025. He includes students in his research and writing, and is currently collaborating with RMC students to co-author an English-language commentary on Proba’s Cento. His 2022 book Ancient Women Writers of Greece and Rome was honored with the 2023 Bolchazy Pedagogy Award by the Classical Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS). 

The VFIC, established in 1952, is a consortium of 17 colleges across Virginia. The foundation provides access to these schools through financial assistance for deserving students, many of whom are first-generation college students. This financial support fulfills the VFIC’s goal to advance the distinctive values and strengths of its member institutions and connect academically qualified students with excellent education.