Professor Beth Severy-Hoven receives the 2025 Jefferson Award

Dr. Beth Severy-Hoven, professor of the Classical Mediterranean and Middle East, is the recipient of the 2025 Thomas Jefferson Award. The award was established in 1961 by the Robert Earll McConnell Foundation to honor members of the Macalester community who exemplify the principles and ideals of the third President of the United States. Professor Severy-Hoven was selected by a committee of past Jefferson Award winners.

“Beyond being an exceptional scholar and an inspirational teacher and advisor, Beth is an intellectual leader on campus,” said Dr. Tom Halverson, dean of the faculty and recipient of the 2020 Jefferson Award. “She is currently serving on our Curricular Implementation Team, where she is helping the college design a new general education program. And in all of Beth’s work, she manages to keep the student experience at the center.”

Dr. Severy-Hoven is an acclaimed Roman historian, whose first book tackled the formidable topic of the first Emperor Augustus and his family. This book remains a must for anyone venturing into the realm of the first Emperor and his social world. She followed this with a celebrated, award-winning Latin Language Intermediate Reader on the sexy, vulgar, satirical social commentary The Satyrica of Petronius. She is currently writing the first biography of the influential Roman figure Octavia, whom she refers to as “the first First Woman of Rome.” 

Professor Severy-Hoven’s impact as a teacher and innovator in the classroom has been recognized throughout her career. She is a recipient of a Trustee Award, as well as the Jack and Marty Rossmann Excellence in Teaching Award. She is currently working to develop new approaches to the first-year experience, which introduce students to the liberal arts and the “hidden curriculum” of college. And, in collaboration with other colleagues, she is developing campus-wide curricular reforms for 2030 and beyond. The study-away program that Dr. Severy-Hoven developed, “January in Rome,” has engaged hundreds of students in a one-of-a-kind educational international experience. They describe it as transformative, unforgettable, and yes, epic. She is an inspirational teacher and role model for her students, as well as a tireless and relentless advocate and advisor.

Dr. Severy-Hoven has given her time and talent generously in service of the college. She has chaired the Faculty Advisory Council; served on the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies steering committee; chaired her department for 10 years; worked on the Second Language Task Force and the Non-Tenure Track Personnel Committee, and more.

Professor Severy-Hoven is an innovative leader, a trusted voice and a wise counselor. When she speaks, people listen. Her comments, suggestions, and guidance are invariably insightful, practical, and precise. As one colleague wrote, “You embody so much of what we aim and hope for Macalester to be and become.”

“Working at Macalester has been so special because of the people – my colleagues in the department and on various committees – there are just astonishing people who work here,” said Dr. Severy-Hoven. 

Previous recipients of the Jefferson Award include Professors Joan Ostrove (2024), Satoko Suzuki (2023), Bill Moseley (2022), Duchess Harris (2021), Galo González (2018) and James Laine (2017), former Registrar Jayne Niemi (2019), and Laurie Hamre (2015), former Vice President of Student Affairs.