Randolph-Macon College President Robert R. Lindgren and Provost Dr. Alisa J. Rosenthal have announced the appointment of Dr. Elías Taylor-Cornejo, Assistant Professor of Biology, as the inaugural John B. Werner Fellow in the Liberal Arts.

The John B. Werner Fellowship in the Liberal Arts is awarded to an accomplished pre-tenure faculty member, recognizing Mr. Werner’s enduring support of Randolph-Macon College and the liberal arts.

Dr. Taylor-Cornejo earned his B.A. from the University of Colorado, Boulder and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, followed by a post-doctoral appointment at the University of California, San Francisco. He joined the RMC biology department in the fall of 2020.

“In the two years since his arrival, Dr. Taylor-Cornejo has proved to be a thoughtful and committed teacher, and a creative and dedicated scientist,” Provost Rosenthal said. “His colleagues laud his conscientious preparation, his ability to adapt swiftly to the needs of students and to changing modalities of instruction, and his clear and effective presentation of complicated concepts in both lecture and laboratory.”

Dr. Taylor-Cornejo’s research explores host-pathogen interactions, focusing particularly on the model organism, Legionella pneumophila, to understand how intracellular bacterial pathogens can manipulate the cellular processes of their eukaryotic host to establish an infection. In September, he was awarded $435,554 from the National Science Foundation to study the evolution of cellular stress responses and host defenses to bacterial pathogens.

He has also published research in the scholarship of pedagogy, most recently on empowering undergraduates to fight climate change with soil microbes in DNA & Cell Biology.

Dr. Taylor-Cornejo will be the John B. Werner Fellow in the Liberal Arts for academic years 2022-23 and 2023-24.

John B. Werner Fellowship in the Liberal Arts

The John B. Werner Fellowship in the Liberal Arts was established in 2020 by the Board of Directors of The Robert G. Cabell III and Maude Morgan Cabell Foundation (The Cabell Foundation), in memory of Mr. Werner and to recognize his significant impact to the philanthropic efforts of The Cabell Foundation during his 15-year tenure as its Executive Director.

John B. Werner graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa from Randolph-Macon College in 1953 with a B.A. in History. He served with distinction on the College’s Board of Trustees for 22 years from 1974-1994 and again from 2000-2003, offering wise and invaluable counsel to four Randolph-Macon presidents. Randolph-Macon awarded Mr. Werner an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree in 2005 and the College’s Distinguished Service Award in 2009.

Mr. Werner was a stalwart advocate and supporter of Randolph-Macon and liberal arts education. The John B. Werner Fellowship in the Liberal Arts has been created to support and stimulate faculty members’ teaching of the liberal arts, to advance their scholarly and creative work, and to enhance the College’s liberal arts academic programs.