Sharon D. Welch
Sharon has held positions as Professor and Chair of Religious Studies, Professor of Women's and Gender Studies and Adjunct Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Missouri from 1991-2007. She was assistant and then associate professor of Theology and Religion and Society at Harvard Divinity School from 1982 to 1991. While at the University of Missouri, Welch was a Senior Fellow in the Center for Religion, the Professions, and the Public, a project leader of the Ford-sponsored Difficult Dialogues Program, and co-chair of the MU Committee for the Scholarship of Multicultural Teaching and Learning. Welch is currently a member of the International Steering Committee of Global Action to Prevent War.

Sharon is the author of four books: After Empire: The Art and Ethos of Enduring Peace, A Feminist Ethic of Risk, Sweet Dreams in America: Making Ethics and Spirituality Work, Communities of Resistance and Solidarity: A Feminist Theology of Liberation, and many articles. 

Dr. Welch is the recipient of numerous awards, many of which recognize her excellence in teaching.  Among these are the Internationalizing the Curriculum Course Development Award (2002) and the College of Education, High Flyer Teaching Award (several years).  She also received the Annual Gustavus Myers Award: Honorable Mention for her 1999 book, Sweet Dreams in America: Making Ethics and Spirituality Work (Routledge). She was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology by Starr King School of the Ministry in May 2007.

Sharon is married to Jon Poses, and has two daughters.  Zoe is 21 and is a senior at San Francisco State University. Hannah is 18 and is a senior at Rockbridge High School.

Read more about Sharon and her appointment to the position of Provost here.