President's choice

By Jo McCulty Michelle Vonville and Mike Fitch, program coordinator and program specialist, respectively, for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science, admire President Kirwan's choice in the Staff Arts and Crafts exhibit on display in Bricker Hall through Oct. 26. Kirwan selected a glass piece, "Reflections of the Good Life," by Charles G. Orosz of the College of Medicine and Public Health.

Faculty Recognition Day

Honored professors will cross the field in an Academic Festival-themed halftime show Oct. 6

They are those among the University revered by students, alumni and peers for being "true educators," "world experts in their field" and "gems of the campus."

Through open-door policies, mentoring and compassionate classroom approaches, they inspire students to write touching and expansive teaching evaluations about special relationships developed during the learning process. Through advocacy and action, they assist in making the University a more welcoming place for all populations. As leading scholars of their disciplines, they participate in research that has improved the quality of life for all and, in some cases, likely already saved lives. And they are among the best colleagues around, looking out for all University citizens' interests.

They are the first 26 individuals to be honored in a new Faculty Recognition Day program at the University that is celebrating their accomplishments in a most public place: Ohio Stadium.

On Oct. 6, the 2000-01 recipients of the University's six most prestigious honors for faculty will be recognized in an "Academic Festiva" halftime ceremony during the Ohio State vs. Northwestern football game.

President Brit Kirwan characterized the honored faculty as "some of our most valued colleagues. It's through the efforts of faculty such as these that The Ohio State University will become one of the world's truly great universities.

"I hope that this recognition from nearly 100,000 Ohio citizens will serve as a meaningful expression of our appreciation for those who accomplish remarkable things on behalf of the University and the people of Ohio," he said.

The faculty are recipients of the following awards: Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching, Distinguished Scholar Award, Faculty Award for Distinguished University Service, Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Award, University Distinguished Lecturer and Distinguished University Professor.

Though the awards receive substantial attention within the University community, Executive Vice President and Provost Edward J. Ray said the University is developing ways to more actively remind Ohio State's many internal and external constituents of the outstanding quality of its teachers and scholars.

"One significant way we believe that we can do that is by reminding our football fans of our primary mission of teaching, research and service,"Ray said. "It's important to remind this community of University supporters that Ohio State undergraduate, graduate and professional students are taught and mentored by some of the most remarkable scholars in the world."

The Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching honored 10 faculty members with superior performance in teaching. Teaching award recipients are inducted into the Academy of Teaching, which provides leadership on improving teaching at Ohio State.

Six faculty members received the Distinguished Scholar Award, which recognizes extraordinary scholarly accomplishments by senior professors who have compiled a substantial body of research, as well as the work of younger faculty members who have demonstrated great scholarly potential.

The Faculty Award for Distinguished University Service was given to three faculty members who have made extensive contributions to the development and implementation of University policies and programs through nonadministrative roles.

Three faculty received Ohio State's Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Award, which recognizes extraordinary efforts of individuals or groups to widen opportunities and programs for minority groups.

Two faculty named late last spring are this year's University Distinguished Lecturers, receiving recognition as outstanding faculty and an opportunity to discuss their work with the community in a University distinguished faculty lecture series.

And two faculty were designated as Distinguished University Professors, considered the highest faculty honor at Ohio State.

The celebration will begin before the game with a dinner for the award recipients at the Drake Activity and Performance Center, at which Lonnie Thompson, professor of geological sciences and one of the Distinguished Scholar Award winners last year, will speak on behalf of faculty to business and opinion leaders on the importance of teaching and research in a global context.

During halftime, the recognition ceremony will include the Ohio State Marching Band's performance.

The faculty to be recognized in this inaugural ceremony are:

Distinguished University Professor

Charles C. Capen, Professor, Veterinary Biosciences and Internal Medicine

Matthew S. Platz, Melvin S. Newman Professor, Chemistry

Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching

Javad Abdalkhani, Associate Professor, Mathematics, Lima Campus

Neeli M. Bendapudi, Assistant Professor, Marketing

Julia F. Guy, Assistant Professor, Anatomy and Medical Education

David J. Hart, Professor, Chemistry

Timothy E. Heron, Professor, Physical Activity and Educational Services

Randy D. Hodson, Professor, Sociology

Keith Merrill Irvin, Professor, Animal Sciences

Ralf G. Rahwan, Professor, Pharmacy

Barbara L. Seidl, Assistant Professor, Teaching and Learning

Ian M. Sheldon, Professor, Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics

Distinguished Scholar Award

Brian D. Joseph, Professor, Linguistics

Kenneth E. Naylor, Professor of South Slavic Linguistics

John N. King, Professor, English

Henri Moscovici, Professor, Mathematics

J. William Rich, Ralph W. Kurtz Professor, Mechanical Engineering

Leila J. Rupp, Professor and Chair, History

Lonnie G. Thompson, Professor, Geological Sciences

Faculty Award for Distinguished University Service

Robert J. Perry, Professor, Physics

Sally V. Rudmann, Professor and Director, Medical Technology, Allied Medical Professions

Caroline C. Whitacre, Professor and Chair, Molecular Virology, Immunology, and Medical Genetics

Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Award

Brenda Jo Brueggemann, Associate Professor, English

Raul Herrera, Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science

Allen P. Zimmerman, Associate Professor, Engineering Technology and Technical Physics, Agricultural Technical Institute

University Distinguished Lecturer

Ruth Colker, Heck-Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law

Arthur Epstein, Distinguished University Professor of Physics and Chemistry, Director, Center for Materials Research

next page...