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MSU honors top faculty
May 07, 2009
Dedicated teachers, dynamic researchers and faculty devoted to the betterment of Montana are among the winners of the top Montana State University 2009 faculty awards announced this week. The annual awards honor achievement in faculty research, teaching, outreach and creative projects. The awards will be presented at the MSU Honors Night Banquet on May 8.
The Cox Family Faculty Excellence Award
Michele Hardy, professor of veterinary molecular biology, and Richard Wolff, professor in electrical and computer engineering, are the recipients of the 2009 Cox Family Awards for Creative Scholarship and Teaching. Each will receive a $2,000 honorarium from the Winston and Helen Cox Family Endowment as well as an $800 stipend to be used to purchase books dedicated in their honor at MSU's Renne Library.
Hardy researches viral pathogenesis and has made significant contributions to the understanding of RNA viruses. Besides publishing a number of articles in top tier journals, such as "Science" and the "Journal of Virology," she has been awarded more than $3 million for her research. She also teaches upper level and graduate classes, gives guest lectures and has mentored 19 undergraduate research projects. She is developing a new graduate course in microbial pathogenesis.
Wolff, whose career spans almost 40 years in academia and industry, is an expert on telecommunications and its underlying technologies. He is MSU's Gilhousen Telecommunications Chair and holds several leadership roles in the IEEE professional organization. He has been instrumental in developing the MSU electrical engineering department's upper division and graduate courses and advising graduate students. For the past three years, he has organized a 10-week summer research experience that draws undergraduates from across the country to learn about wireless communications technologies.
James and Mary Ross Provost's Award for Excellence
Robert Maher, professor and head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and David Mogk, geology professor in the Department of Earth Sciences, have received the 2009 James and Mary Ross Provost's Award for Excellence, which recognizes excellence in teaching and scholarship. Each will receive a $2,500 honorarium for the award.
Maher has created the innovative custom robot project kit used by all MSU freshmen in electrical engineering to teach them hands-on learning. An expert in digital signal processing and acoustics, Maher helped the College of Engineering develop several new core courses and was a key contributor to MSU's new Music Technology program. In 2008, Maher was named a Fellow by the Audio Engineering Society, and he has consistently published research articles in the top journals in his field.
Mogk is one of the top geoscience educators in the nation and is also a cutting-edge researcher in geoscience teaching and mineral characterization. A legend in the field of geoscience education, he not only incorporates square dancing and artwork into his classes, but service learning, interactive teaching methods, research and individual training in MSU's Imaging and Chemical Analysis Laboratory. In 2007, he was one of only five geoscientists in the world to be elected a Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America.
President's Excellence in Teaching Award
Anne Christensen, an accounting professor in the College of Business, Kristen Intemann, professor of philosophy in the Department of History and Philosophy, and Charles (Bill) McLaughlin, adjunct professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, have won the 2009 Excellence in Teaching Award. Each will receive a $2,500 honorarium.
Christensen is known throughout the College of Business as a walking encyclopedia of tax law who has very high standards for her students. Her students consistently praise her knowledge, high expectations, enthusiasm, concern for students and teaching methods. As the director of the College of Business' Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, Christensen trains approximately 50 accounting students each year to help more than 500 low-income and international students with their tax returns.
Intemann has won glowing reviews from colleagues and students for her ability to bring complex philosophical theories into the classroom and make the material accessible to students from a range of academic backgrounds. Her research into ethics, especially in connection with science, has been published in top journals in her field, including "Philosophy of Science." She helped create the Ethicats, an ethics debate team that has qualified for national competitions and gotten students more excited about philosophy.
McLaughlin is known for his devotion to teaching, whether he's teaching students majoring in chemistry or other fields. His innovative classrooms incorporate real-life situations and lively demonstrations, making chemistry relevant to students no matter what their learning style. His digital, Web-hosted virtual office visits, generous office hours, podcasts and blog reflect his desire to be available to students at all times. A mentor for teaching assistants and athletes, he has made a strong effort to connect the department to Native American students.
Provost's Award for Undergraduate Research/Creativity mentoring
Mary Cloninger, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and Jack Fisher, professor of archaeology and anthropology, won this year's undergraduate research/creativity mentoring award. They will each receive a $2,000 honorarium.
Since arriving at MSU nearly 10 years ago, Cloninger has mentored more than 28 undergraduate students -- including more than a dozen women and Native Americans. Most of these students have gone on to graduate school, medical school or to jobs as professional chemists. She has also been instrumental in the ongoing success of MSU's NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates program in chemical
biology, in which undergraduates from other colleges and universities visit campus each summer for a research experience.
An archaeologist who studies prehistoric hunter-gatherer peoples of Montana and southern Africa, Fisher is also praised as a teacher and mentor. He has mentored more than 80 MSU undergraduates in his two decades at MSU. That work is translated in an impressive number of MSU anthropology graduates pursuing advanced degrees in the subject.
Provost's Excellence in Outreach Award
Trevor Douglas, professor of chemistry, and Jennifer Luebeck, professor of mathematics education, have been selected as the 2009 recipients of MSU's Provost's Excellence in Outreach Award. Each will receive a $2,000 honorarium.
Douglas, who is also director of the Center for Bio-inspired Nanomaterials, is known nationally and internationally for his pioneering work in nanoscience. He is also known locally as the scientist behind MSU Science Saturdays, an outreach program for kids ages 6-15 that has attracted hundreds of area children to monthly events since it began in 2008. Whether demonstrating how to connect electrodes to a lemon-powered motor or exploding a hydrogen-filled balloon, Douglas' hands-on explorations have enamored local children, proving that science can be both useful and fun.
Luebeck is widely recognized in Montana as a leader and driving force behind K-12 math teachers' development and improvement. Over the years, she has increasingly incorporated online technology and the access made possible by the Internet to support outreach programs for rural K-12 mathematics educators. She has also worked with Montana's Office of Public Instruction to rewrite and extend the state's standards for K-12 mathematics.
The Meritorious Technology/Science Award
Edward Dratz, a chemistry and biochemistry professor and Paul Grieco, a Regent's professor in chemistry, jointly received MSU's Meritorious Technology/Science Award. It carries a $2,500 honorarium and recognizes an MSU faculty member who has made at least one significant technological or scientific contribution that could be transferred or already has been transferred to the private sector.
Dratz is a leader in analytical, structural and mechanistic biochemistry. Grieco is a world-renowned expert in the field of organic synthesis. Over the past five years the two scientists have collaborated to develop enhanced tools in the field of proteomics with the design and synthesis of a new generation of water soluble fluorescent probe molecules called Zdyes. They are working with several Bozeman companies to develop additional tools for improved proteomic analysis and started a company, Zyde LLC, which is positioned to impact biomedicine and a large commercial biotech market.
Wiley Awards for Meritorious Research
Martin Lawrence, professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Michael Reidy, professor of history, and Cathy Whitlock, professor of earth sciences, have won this year's Charles and Nora L. Wiley Faculty Awards for Meritorious Research and Creativity. Each will each receive $2,000. Sponsored by the MSU Foundation, the prizes are given in honor of the Wileys, who were pioneer ranchers in eastern Montana.
Lawrence is a pioneer in archaeal virus proteins, a craftsman in the art of crystallography and a prolific contributor to scientific publications. He has distinguished himself over the past decade with his work in X-ray crystallography of biological macromolecules, especially virus proteins and proteins related to iron homeostasis. While his recent work on Steap proteins represents a major advance in the field of metalloreductases and human iron homeostasis, his greatest achievement to date is said to be his work on archaeal viruses from extreme environments.
Reidy is recognized for his recently published "Tides of History: Ocean Science and Her Majesty's Navy," which examines the links between British imperialism and the study of oceans and tides. He has been noted by colleagues and peers for his contributions to the study of the history of oceans and for his work in understanding the importance of mountains to the study of biology and evolution.
Whitlock's research in climate, vegetation and fire history is world renowned and has had significant and lasting impacts on the understanding of environmental change. Her studies of ecological histories of North and South America and New Zealand have produced important insights about the controls of forest dynamics and form the foundation for new research questions. She sits on numerous national and international boards, is recognized for her grantsmanship and known for her ability to attract top-tier international and domestic students to MSU.
Betty Coffey Award
Susan Kollin, an English professor with interests in the literature of the American West and women's studies, received the Betty Coffey Award. The award was established in memory of Betty Coffey, an engineering professor from 1977-1984 who was noted for her teaching excellence and her contributions to women's equity. The award comes with a $500 honorarium.
A former director of the MSU Women's Studies minor, Kollin has worked for 14 years on the issues and problems faced by MSU's female undergraduate students. Her experience as co-academic director for an MSU summer program for students from the Middle East led to her successful application for a Fulbright Fellowship at the American University in Cairo. There she shared her expertise on gender and race in the American culture. Kollin is the author of two books about the literature of the American West and Alaska, her native state, and is writing a book about Westerns for the University of Nebraska Press.
Phi Kappa Phi Award
John Paxton, computer science professor, won the Anna K. Fridley Distinguished Teaching Award given by the Phi Kappa Phi honorary. Paxton will receive a $1,500 cash award.
Over the course of his career, Paxton has received 21 teaching awards, including the 2005 President's Award for Excellence in Teaching. Students consistently praise him for taking the time to get to know them, for making every class period interesting and for his insights as an adviser. And Paxton's efforts at forging both international and interdisciplinary partnerships have broadened the horizons of both faculty members and students.
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Editor's note: All photos by MSU photographer Kelly Gorham. Contact Gorham at kelly.gorham@montana.edu for individual .jpgs of the MSU faculty award winners.
Pat Chansley (406) 994-4373, chansley@montana.edu
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