Faculty and Staff Honored for Distinguished Teaching, Research, and Service to Lafayette

Outstanding professors and other members of the Lafayette community were honored for distinguished teaching, scholarly research, and service to the College at Lafayette’s annual trustee-faculty dinner Friday, May 21, in Marquis Hall.

Lafayette President Arthur J. Rothkopf ’55; Alan R. Griffith ’64, chair of the board of trustees; and June Schlueter, provost and Dana Professor of English, presented the awards and citations.

Rothkopf announced that the board of trustees has appointed five faculty members to named and endowed chairs effective with the 2004-05 academic year.

• Dru Germanoski, professor of geology and environmental geosciences, will become Dr. Ervin R. VanArtsdalen ’35 Professor of Geology and Environmental Geosciences
• H. David Husic, professor of chemistry, will become John D. Larkin Professor of Chemistry
• Howard J. Marblestone, professor of foreign languages and literatures, will become Charles Elliott Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures
• George E. Panichas, professor of philosophy, will become James Renwick Hogg Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy
• Eric J. Ziolkowski, professor of religious studies, will become Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious Studies

Five retiring members of the faculty and administration were honored, Joseph J. Martin, associate professor of English; Thomas W. Norton ’59, professor of sociology in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology; Gary R. Miller, College chaplain;Joanne M. Follweiler, general chemistry lab coordinator and visiting assistant professor of chemistry; and Cheryl S. McMahon, assistant director of human resources. Martin and Norton have been elected to emeritus status.

The evening featured the awarding of prizes in recognition of exceptional teaching, scholarship, and service to Lafayette. The prizes are funded through designated gifts to the endowment.

Recipients of Student Government Superior Teaching Awards were Alan W. Childs, professor of psychology, Katalin Fabian, assistant professor of government and law, and Christopher S. Ruebeck, assistant professor of economics and business.

Susan L. Averett, professor of economics and business, was the inaugural recipient of the James E. Lennertz Prize for Exceptional Teaching and Mentoring. Established by Leslie F. Muhlfelder ’81, the College’s vice president for human resources and general counsel, the award honors Lafayette faculty member James E. Lennertz, associate professor of government and law, for his exceptional teaching, devotion to students, and extraordinary ability to challenge students to realize their full intellectual potential.

Marquis Distinguished Teaching Awards for distinctive and extraordinary teaching went to Charles W. Holliday, professor of biology; Curlee Raven Holton, associate professor of art and director of the Experimental Printmaking Institute; J. Ronald Martin, professor of chemical engineering; and Helena Silverstein, associate professor of government and law. An endowed fund established by Walter A. Scott ’59 and his wife Kate provides for four annual awards.

Shyamal K. Majumdar, Gideon R. Jr. and Alice L. Kreider Professor of Biology, received the Mary Louise Van Artsdalen Prize for outstanding scholarly achievement. The award was established by Dr. Ervin R. Van Artsdalen ’35 in memory of his wife.

Chip Nataro and Yvonne Gindt, assistant professors of chemistry,were the recipients of the Delta Upsilon Distinguished Mentoring and Teaching Award. Established in 2000 by the alumni of the Lafayette chapter of the Delta Upsilon fraternity on the 115th anniversary of the fraternity’s founding, the award recognizes members of the faculty for distinctive and extraordinary teaching through mentoring, which may include advising, undergraduate research, independent study, or any of the many one-on-one mentoring activities that take place in a student-centered learning environment.

Robert G. Root, associate professor of mathematics, was the recipient of the Carl R. and Ingeborg Beidleman Research Award recognizing excellence in applied research or scholarship. The prize was established by Carl R. Beidleman ’54, professor emeritus of finance at Lehigh University, and his wife, Ingeborg.

L. Thomas Hill, professor of mathematics, received the James P. Crawford Award. Established by Jonathan Bernon ’84, the prize rewards a faculty member who has demonstrated a high standard of classroom instruction. The award honors the late James P. Crawford, who taught in the Department of Mathematics from 1957 to 2003.

Edward N. Gamber, associate professor of economics and business, received the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for excellence in teaching and outstanding contributions to campus life.

Olga Anna Duhl, associate professor of French in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, received the Thomas Roy and Lura Forrest Jones Award for superior teaching and scholarly contribution to her discipline.

Michelle C. Geoffrion-Vinci, assistant professor of Spanish in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, and Joshua A. Sanborn, assistant professor of history, received Thomas Roy and Lura Forrest Jones Faculty Lecture Awards in recognition of excellence in teaching and scholarship. Each will deliver a featured lecture during the 2004-05 academic year.

Also recognized were this year’s Jones Faculty Lecturers, Derek A. Smith, assistant professor of mathematics, and Sidney E. Donnell, associate professor of Spanish in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.

The recipient of the Administrator of the Year Award was Neil J. McElroy, director of libraries and academic information resources. Established by gifts from faculty members to recognize outstanding contributions by members of the Lafayette administrative team to the campus community, the award is made each year to a full-time administrator nominated by a member of the faculty or division head.

Seven faculty members received Joseph Johnson Hardy Memorial Fund Awards. The award was established in 1923 by Harry S. Gay 1882 in memory of Professor Hardy, who taught mathematics and astronomy at Lafayette from 1870 to 1915. The income from this fund is divided annually among the five (in this case, because of ties, seven) members of the faculty who have achieved the longest continuous service to Lafayette.

Honored were Edward R. McDonald, professor of German in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, who joined the faculty in 1964; B. Vincent Viscomi, Simon Cameron Long Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (1964); Martin (1967); Norton (1967); Majumdar (1969); Robert I. Weiner, Thomas Roy and Lura Forrest Jones Professor of History (1969), and Stephen E. Lammers, Helen H.P. Manson Professor of Religious Studies (1969).

One faculty member and four administrators were honored for 25 years of service to Lafayette, L. Thomas Hill, professor of mathematics; Patricia A. Facciponti, instructional technologist; Jeannette Majka, assistant to the president; Michiko Okaya, director of the Williams Center art gallery; and Nancy Tregoe, director of purchasing and administrative services.