Thomas Cronin returns to the McHugh Family Distinguished Chair at Colorado College.

A familiar face will return to Palmer Hall come fall.

After 12 years as president of Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., Tom Cronin will return to CC’s political science department as the McHugh Family Distinguished Chair in American Institutions and Leadership. Cronin was the first person to hold that professorship during his previous time at CC, from 1979 to 1993, and he served as acting president in 1991.

Alumni remember Cronin as a professor who related to them as individuals (he has a knack for instantly memorizing names), loved to play basketball with students, and brought the real world to the classroom.

“Professor Cronin’s teaching approach pushes students to, first, find their respective inner voices and, second, bridge the all-too-common divide between academic study and practical application,” says Bill Natter ’90, who is now on the Terrorism Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee in Washington, D.C.

Jeff Tieman ’96, now communications director for the Catholic Health Association in Washington, D.C., and a former writer for Modern Healthcare, was thrilled to hear that CC students will again benefit from Cronin’s teaching. “You’re never going to be bored in his class,” Tieman says. “He’s an incredibly engaging teacher and leader. I remember going to Baca, watching political movies, and engaging in great discussion. He’s hands-on and collaborative. My journalism and advocacy careers were directly impacted by his classes.”

Cronin is looking forward to seeing old friends at CC, and making new ones as he returns to teaching and writing. He will teach The American Presidency, American Government and Politics, What is Politics?, and Leadership.

“I’m absolutely delighted to be rejoining Colorado College, where I so enjoyed my teaching before,” he says. “And I’m especially pleased to be joining such an outstanding political science department.”