Faculty and Staff Honored for Distinguished Teaching, Scholarly Research, and Service

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 May 19.

President Dan Weiss; Provost June Schlueter; and Alan R. Griffith ’64, chair of the board of trustees, presented awards and citations.

Schlueter, who is stepping down as provost June 30 after 13 years in the position, was honored for her service as the College’s chief academic officer. The faculty’s statement expressing grateful appreciation was read by James Woolley, Frank Lee and Edna M. Smith Professor of English and clerk of the faculty. On behalf of the administration Leslie F. Muhlfelder ’81, vice president for human resources and general counsel, read a letter from President Emeritus Arthur J. Rothkopf ’55, with whom Schlueter served as provost for 12 years. Riley K. Temple ’71, secretary of the board of trustees, spoke on behalf of the board, presenting Schlueter with a framed, limited-edition print of the Tiffany stained glass window, depicting the death of Sir Philip Sidney, that is installed in Skillman Library’s main reading room. Conservation treatment of the window was funded by the Friends of Skillman Library in honor of Rothkopf and Schlueter.

Weiss recognized two retiring members of the faculty who have been elected to emeritus status, Susan L. Blake, professor of English, and Shyamal K. Majumdar, Gideon R., Jr., and Alice L. Kreider Professor of Biology. Schlueter saluted Kofi Opoku, a retiring faculty member in the Department of Religious Studies.

Also honored were three retiring members of the administration, Lorraine Mineo, general biology laboratory coordinator; Jeannette Majka, assistant to the president; and Barry W. McCarty, dean of enrollment services.Weiss announced that a plaque honoring McCarty will be placed in the admissions reception area of Markle Hall and that an annual award recognizing outstanding service by a volunteer Alumni Admissions Representative will be established in his name.

Schlueter announced that two faculty members have been appointed to endowed chairs effective with the 2006-07 academic year. Susan L. Averett, professor of economics and business, will become Charles A. Dana Professor of Economics and Business. Mary J.S. Roth ’83, professor of civil and environmental engineering, will become Simon Cameron Long Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

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.

Marquis Distinguished Teaching Awards for distinctive and extraordinary teaching went to Sharon A. Jones, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering; John S. Shaw, associate professor of psychology; David H. Shulman, associate professor of anthropology and sociology; and Carolynn Van Dyke, Francis A. March Professor of English. An endowed fund established by Walter A. Scott ’59 and his wife, Kate, provides for four annual awards.

Dru Germanoski, Dr. Ervin R. Van Artsdalen ’35 Professor of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, 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.

Curlee Raven Holton, professor of art and director of Lafayette’s Experimental Printmaking Institute, was the 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.

Rado Pribic, Oliver Edwin Williams Professor of Languages and chair of the International Affairs program, was the recipient of the Delta Upsilon Distinguished Mentoring and Teaching Award. Established in 2000 by alumni of the Lafayette chapter of 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.

Evan D. Fisher, 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.

Private music instructor Alexis Z. Fisher 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.

Ilan Peleg, Charles A. Dana Professor of Government and Law, received the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for excellence in teaching and outstanding contributions to campus life.

Stephen E. Lammers, Helen H.P. Manson Professor of the English Bible, received the Thomas Roy and Lura Forrest Jones Award for superior teaching and scholarly contribution to his discipline.

Paul D. Barclay, assistant professor of history, and Chawne M. Kimber, assistant professor of mathematics, 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 2006-07 academic year.

Also recognized were this year’s Jones Faculty Lecturers, Paul A. Cefalu, associate professor of English, and Scott R. Hummel, associate professor of mechanical engineering.

Recipients of Student Government Superior Teaching Awards were Shaw and Kevin Cameron, visiting assistant professor of government and law.

Annette Diorio, acting associate dean of students and director of residential life, and Marie Enea, manager of scheduling and events planning, received the Cyrus S. Fleck Jr. ’52 Administrator of the Year Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to the campus community. Cy Fleck, for whom the award, instituted in 2002, is named, served Lafayette as an administrator for more than four decades, including 32 years as registrar.

Ian D. Smith, associate professor of English, received the Daniel Golden ’34 Faculty Service Award in recognition of distinguished service to Lafayette through the Alumni Association and alumni activities.

Three faculty members were honored for 25 years of service to Lafayette, Susan A. Niles, professor of anthropology; Robert S. Mattison, Marshall R. Metzgar Professor of Art; and Deborah L. Byrd, associate professor of English.

Five 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 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; Lammers (1969); Majumdar (1969); Robert I. Weiner, Thomas Roy and Lura Forrest Jones Professor of History (1969); and Pribic (1971).