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Faculty and Staff
The Office of the Provost administers the President’s Scholars Program, directed by Tom Tunks and coordinated by Martha Starke. A faculty member and an administrator serve as co-advisers for programming and sponsor special activities.
Tom Tunks
Tom Tunks is SMU provost and vice president for academic affairs ad interim, serving as the chief academic officer of the University. He has been associate provost for educational programs since 1998, directing the President’s Scholars Program, admissions and enrollment services, and curriculum policy. A professor of music, he formerly served as associate dean and interim dean of the Meadows School of the Arts. He is the winner of numerous University awards for teaching and service, including the Willis M. Tate Award, Outstanding Faculty Volunteer Award, and M Award, SMU’s highest honor for service to the University. He received his bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees in music from Michigan State University.
Of the President’s Scholars Program he says: “Working directly with students has always been the best part of my university life. The President’s Scholars bring to the University community a richness of experience, expertise, and personality that enriches all of us. I enjoy being a part of that.”
Martha Starke
Martha Starke has been coordinator of the President’s Scholars, Dean’s Scholars, and International Baccalaureate Scholars programs since 1999. To the students she serves, she is the all-knowing source of assistance and encouragement during their years at SMU, and she is an important link between the University and the program’s graduates. Before joining the Office of the Provost, she was Student Services Coordinator in the MBA Office of SMU’s Cox School of Business. Martha has studied biology, chemistry, history, and political science at Richland Community College and the University of North Texas and plans to continue her education through SMU’s evening studies program. She has been “a soccer, baseball, dance, gymnastics, and cheerleading Mom for 20-plus years” and is now an active and supportive grandmother. She also volunteers for her church and community.
About her work with the President’s Scholars, she says: “The scholars bring a refreshing outlook to my life through their constant zest for knowledge and their diversity. It is an honor and a joy working alongside these exceptional students.”
Jim Hopkins
Jim Hopkins, chair of the Clements Department of History, is Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor and an inaugural member of the SMU Academy of Distinguished Teachers. Other awards for teaching, research and service include the Willis M. Tate Award, the Scholar-Teacher Award of the United Methodist Church, the Perrine Prize, and the M Award. He co-founded the ICE program and SMU-in-Oxford program, and currently directs SMU-in-Britain. He earned a bachelor’s at the University of Oklahoma, studied at Cambridge University under a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, and earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of Texas at Austin. The author of two books, he teaches British history and the social and intellectual history of Europe. He serves as PS co-adviser for programming with his wife, Patti LaSalle.
“It was once observed that the ideal undergraduate education is a teacher at one end of a log and a student at the other. This image captures the spirit of teaching and learning of which every faculty member dreams,” Hopkins says. “The President Scholar's Program has made it possible for me to have this kind of informal intellectual and personal relationship with several generations of the most talented young men and women in our student body. My wife, Patti, and I have found our lives immeasurably enriched by conversations and friendships developed at dinner parties in our home, the President Scholar's retreat, and in many other settings, both here and abroad. For us this has been an education that matters.”
Patti LaSalle
As Associate Vice President and Executive Director of Public Affairs, Patti LaSalle leads media relations, marketing communications, and public relations for the University. She joined SMU after working in Washington, D.C. at Georgetown University, American University, and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Her articles, publications, and projects have won more than 200 regional and national awards. The author of two books, she won the CASE top national award for outstanding writing about communications for higher education. At SMU she has won the M Award, has taught in the Journalism Division, and serves as co-adviser to the President’s Scholars Program with her husband, Jim Hopkins. A graduate of the University of Arizona, she holds master’s degrees from American University and SMU.
She says: “One of my goals at SMU is to help our constituents understand the quality and character of the University today and its potential for tomorrow. Through their achievements and talents, the President’s Scholars vividly tell that story. They invigorate my professional work in Public Affairs, and it’s a privilege to work with them personally.”
A discussion with first-year
President’s Scholars
at the home of Jim Hopkins and Patti LaSalle during orientation week.
Throughout the year they sponsor dinner-discussions with faculty guests.
