Amina Steinfels awarded 2026 Mount Holyoke College Faculty Award for Service

Amina Steinfels’ contributions to Mount Holyoke College might best be summed up, in the words of one of her peers, with a question that she has asked of this community throughout her many years of service: “How can we do better?” How can we find solutions to our challenges that are anchored in careful inquiry, dialogue, and a sense of fairness? How can we strive for change that reflects our values and gives dignity and respect to the contributions that each of us — faculty, staff, students and administrators — bring to this campus? Amina has posed these questions, but also tackled them as a voice for faculty in the reconstituted chapter of the AAUP (American Association of University Professors), as an advocate for staff and contingent faculty on campus, and as a leader in our institutions of shared governance.

The AAUP has a long history of advocacy on behalf of faculty, but when Amina and others reconstituted the College’s dormant chapter in 2018, few would have guessed the crises that would soon engulf the campus, from the COVID-19 pandemic and the departure of the President to the reconfiguration of the athletic department, campus safety and childcare, and the status of contingent faculty. As a prominent member of the chapter’s steering committee, Amina dedicated enormous time to researching faculty legislation, state laws, and national AAUP policies so as to inform and guide faculty discussions. She also helped to reimagine the chapter more broadly as one that would elevate the voices of junior tenure-track faculty, non-tenure track faculty, and other instructional staff. Through her leadership, the AAUP became a voice for informed, inclusive and pragmatic solutions to the multiple crises of these turbulent years.

At the same time, Amina recognized the importance of shared governance for helping the College do better. She therefore stepped forward to serve as a member of the Faculty Conference Committee (FCC) from 2019-2023, and as co-chair from 2022-23. The FCC in this period was tasked with working alongside other faculty committees and the administration to address a veritable firehose of issues. One of the great strengths repeatedly mentioned in her nominations is Amina’s ability to face a torrent of questions and demands with a calm, consistent and ethical view towards the longer horizon of change. Of particular note, again, was Amina’s interest in supporting the needs of non-tenure track faculty, their compensation, working conditions, responsibilities, and rights and status as faculty. She continues this work today as a member of the ad-hoc committee on lecturers and senior lecturers. Her enduring concern for the College and all of its members is, in the words of another colleague, “her superpower.”

Across her many years of service and advocacy, Amina Steinfels has invited the College to “do better,” and has tirelessly worked for the health and success of the institution and all of its members. For these contributions and many others, she is this year’s recipient of the Mount Holyoke College Faculty Award for Service.