Baylor Art & Art History Chair Recognized Among Big 12 Faculty of the Year
Big 12 Faculty of the Year honoree Heidi J. Hornik, Ph.D., is a leading expert on Michele Tosini, lecturing around the world on the renowned 16th-century Renaissance painter and publishing the first-ever biography on the artist.
Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, 254-709-5959
Follow us: @BaylorUMedia on X and LinkedIn
The Big 12 today honored Baylor University’s Heidi J. Hornik, Ph.D., professor of art history and chair of the Department of Art and Art History, as among the recipients of the Big 12 Faculty of the Year Awards, which celebrate one top faculty member from each member school for excellence in innovation and research on their campus. Together, the 16 honorees represent what makes college campuses thrive as places of learning and growth.
“The recognition of being a Big 12 Conference Faculty of the Year award recipient is extremely special to me not only as a member of the Baylor R1 research community but also as a former NCAA athlete in swimming at Cornell University,” Hornik said. “It is my belief that athletics instills a sense of discipline, organization and teamwork that I have tried to apply to my teaching, research and now administration as a department chair here at Baylor.”
The Big 12 Faculty of the Year Award also is an opportunity to showcase the diversity of research breakthroughs and educational opportunities afforded to students attending Big 12 institutions and helps attract future students.
“We are constantly looking for ways to highlight how Big 12 faculty continue to educate and inspire the next generation of leaders,” said Big 12 Chief Impact Officer Jenn Hunter. “From the arts and film making to business and engineering, this year’s cohort showcases the vast opportunities available to students pursuing an education on Big 12 campuses.”
The Faculty Members of the Year were nominated by their institutions in conjunction with Big 12 Faculty Athletics Reps, Provosts and other university leaders.
About Heidi J. Hornik, Ph.D.
An internationally known art historian and author on religion and the arts, Hornik joined the Baylor art history faculty in 1990, after receiving her B.A. from Cornell University, where she was an NCAA swimmer, and her M.A and Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University.
Hornik’s broad impact across Baylor is evident, whether in the classroom, mentoring students, as a published author and renowned scholar in her field, as department chair and through selfless service on several University committees. In 2025, she received one of Baylor’s most prestigious faculty honors, the 2025 Cornelia Marschall Smith Professor of the Year award, which is presented to a Baylor faculty member who makes a superlative contribution to the learning environment at Baylor.
While serving as department chair, Hornik teaches advanced art history courses in Italian Renaissance, Mannerism and Baroque, as well as the Survey of Western Art. She is a published author and journal editor, undertakes research each summer in the archives, libraries and museums in Florence, Italy, and has lectured in Naples, Florence, Rome, Frankfurt, Cambridge, Oxford and throughout the United States. She also has served as a Visiting Scholar in residence at Harvard University and a Visiting Fellow at St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge University.
In addition, she has directed a dozen undergraduate theses and served on seven dissertation and master’s committees, which earned her university-wide recognition for outstanding mentoring. As chair since 2020, she expanded the learning environment in her department while facilitating faculty searches for seven tenure-track positions.
Hornik is a leading expert on the renowned 16th-century Renaissance painter, Michele Tosini, lecturing around the world on Tosini and publishing nine books and 40 articles, including the first biography on the artist in 2009, Michele Tosini and the Ghirlandaio Workshop in Cinquecento Florence. Her books also include The Art of Christian Reflection, which was the subject of her work while at Harvard.
“As the world expert on Renaissance painter Michele Tosini, Dr. Hornik is a prolific scholar, yet also a fabulous teacher,” said Baylor Provost Nancy Brickhouse, Ph.D. “Each semester Baylor’s undergraduates get a glimpse into the life of a highly regarded art historian as Dr. Hornik shares her work and travels with them.”
With Mikeal C. Parsons, Ph.D., she has authored three interdisciplinary books on art and theology: Illuminating Luke: The Infancy Narrative in Italian Renaissance Painting, Vol. 1; Illuminating Luke: The Public Ministry of Christ in Italian Renaissance and Baroque Painting, Vol. 2; and Illuminating Luke: The Passion and Resurrection Narratives in Italian Renaissance and Baroque Painting, Vol. 3. Together they co-edited a volume on Interpreting Christian Art and completed a fourth book, The Acts of the Apostles Through the Centuries in the Blackwell-Wiley Reception History Commentary on the Bible Series.
Hornik’s most recent book is a co-edited volume with Ian Boxall and Bobbi Dykema for the Society of Biblical Literature Press, The Art of Biblical Interpretation: Visual Portrayals of Scriptural Narratives.
In 2019, Hornik was selected as Senior Editor by Oxford University Press for the Oxford Encyclopedia of Religion and Arts in the West. She serves as past President and an executive board member of the Midwest Art History Society. She also is Founding Editor and Chief of Venue, a digital peer-reviewed scholarly journal of the Midwest Art History Society.
She has been called on often to serve the University, including as chair of the University Tenure Committee, chair of Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching committee, a member of the University Research Committee and most recently as a member of the Strategic Planning Group that helped guide the process leading to the University’s Baylor in Deeds strategic plan.
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more about Baylor University at www.baylor.edu.