Greetings Faculty and Staff,
We’re just days away from the end of fall term and winter break. As the semester comes to a close, I wish to share with you some good news.
Faculty Awards 2015
The annual faculty awards ceremony was held this week on Tuesday evening, December 1, at the Holiday Inn World’s Fair Park. Previously faculty awards have been presented at the annual Winter Convocation in an afternoon program. Attendance at the Convocation has steadily declined (only seventy eight attended in 2014) and we observed that those who attended were mainly the faculty awardees and those who had nominated them. By changing the format to an evening program this year, we were aiming for a more intimate and meaningful ceremony which allowed the honorees, their significant others, and their nominators to participate in the celebration at a time that did not conflict with work schedules. The idea appears to have worked well in that all but two invited guests were able to attend. More importantly, many faculty remarked that they really appreciated the more intimate setting of the new format. You may read about the award winners and their accomplishments at this link (include link). Congratulations to all faculty who were recognized with awards this year.
The Faculty Awards Ceremony each year is an occasion to recognize a few particularly outstanding faculty who represent the collective excellence of all faculty in the college. It’s an opportune time for me to express gratitude to all of our faculty, individually and collectively, for everything they do – teaching, research, service on college and university committees, and service to the community. We know that a college can be no greater than its faculty, and the College of Arts and Sciences is a college of excellence because of its outstanding faculty who are passionate about their discipline and who work selflessly to make our students, programs, departments, and the college the best they can be.
Campus Chest
Again this year, the college exceeded the goal set for us with the Campus Chest campaign! Our goal was $74,000. When all pledges were tallied, the college total was $76.366.24 was pledged—exceeding our goal by a small margin of three per cent. The generosity of our college will help so many people! Thank you!
Overall, the university met 95% of the Campus Chest goal.
Two Faculty Recently Named Fellows
Annette Engel, Associate Professor in Earth and Planetary Sciences, who has been elected a Fellow of the Explorers Club (hyperlink to https://explorers.org/ ). The club was founded in 1905 and its members have included Robert Peary, Roald Amundsen, Sir Edmund Hillary, Neil Armstrong, Mary Leakey, and Jane Goodall. The Explorer’s Club, established in 1904, is an international multidisciplinary professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research and the ideal that it is vital to preserve the instinct to explore. Established in 1904, the Club promotes the scientific exploration of land, sea, air, and space by supporting research and education in the physical, natural and biological sciences.
Steven Steve Wilhelm, Kenneth and Blaire Mossman Professor of Microbiology, is one of the inaugural class of Sustaining Fellows of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO). ) ASLO is recognized as the international professional society for aquatic scientists. The honor recognizes his contributions to the advancements in aquatic science as well as his service contributions to this important professional society.
Congratulations to Professors Engel and Wilhelm!
Arts and Sciences Alumna, Dale Dickey, to Receive Honorary Degree
Fall semester will end on a positive and uplifting note with the awarding of an Honorary Doctor of Science and Letters to alumna Dale Dickey (hyperlink to story). She will also deliver the graduation address for Fall Commencement.
Our college has awarded only a few honorary degrees and there are many opportunities for more. I invite faculty to identify candidates for an honorary degree from the college and present them to department heads for consideration. In addition to being accomplished individuals, honorary degree candidates ideally would have a connection to the college, the university or the state.
Best wishes for a pleasant finish to the semester and a restful and refreshing winter break.
With best regards,
Theresa M. Lee, PhD
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences