Jeff Abernathy papers

Jeff Abernathy served as vice president and dean of Augustana College from 2004 until 2012, when he became president of Alma College. He joined Augustana after serving West Virginia Wesleyan College as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college, prior to which he was a faculty member in English at Illinois College, where he also served as associate dean. While at Augustana, Dr. Abernathy was instrumental in the development of the Midwest Alliance for Learning in the Liberal Arts, a consortium of six liberal arts colleges including Alma and Augustana that studies student learning and growth. The consortium is funded by a major grant from the Teagle Foundation. Abernathy graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from Longwood College. He earned a master’s degree in English from Virginia Commonwealth University and a doctorate in American literature from the University of Florida. He is the author of a book, To Hell and Back: Race and Betrayal in the Southern Novel, published by University of Georgia Press in December 2003. This collection consists of 51 notebooks which contain notes taken during Abernathy’s time at Augustana.