Awards for distinguished teaching, outstanding advising presented

by Daniel J. Fitzgibbons, Chronicle staff

he campus's top teachers and academic advisors were honored this week as the three faculty and two graduate students received Distinguished Teaching Awards and Outstanding Academic Advisor Awards were presented to a faculty member and a professional staffer.

     The prizes were scheduled to be announced Wednesday night at the annual awards banquet sponsored by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research. The four recipients of this year's Samuel F. Conti Faculty Fellowships also were honored at the event.

     Distinguished Teaching Awards were bestowed upon Alexandrina Deschamps, assistant professor of Women's Studies, History professor Ronald Story, Communication professor Michael Morgan, and two teaching assistants: Michael Thompson of Chemistry and Ieva Zake of Sociology.

     Established in 1962, the Distinguished Teaching Award is regarded as the campus's most prestigious prize for classroom instruction. The honor includes a plaque and a monetary award of $3,000 for faculty members and $2,000 for teaching assistants. The names of DTA winners are also enshrined on permanent displays in the Lincoln Campus Center and the recipients are recognized during Undergraduate Commencement.

     Nominations for the award are made by current and former students to a committee of faculty, undergraduates and previous graduate student winners of the prize. The committee makes the award selections.

     For their efforts in advising, professor Elizabeth Petroff of Comparative Literature and Manuela Pacheco-Littlefield of the Bilingual Collegiate Program were presented the Outstanding Academic Advisors Awards.

     In recognition of their contributions, Petroff and Pacheco-Littlefield each received plaques and cash awards of $3,000.

     This year, Conti Faculty Fellowships were awarded to Psychology professor Rachel Keen Clifton; Lila M. Gierasch, professor and head of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department; Michael F. Malone, professor and head of the Chemical Engineering Department; and History professor Stephen Nissen-baum.

     Conti fellows receive a cash award of $3,000 and a year's leave of absence to encourage them to concentrate on activities related to graduate education, research, creative work and scholarly attainment.

     Nominations for the fellowships are put forth by department heads to their respective deans with final selections made by a committee of the Faculty Senate's Research Council. Selection is based on demonstrably outstanding accomplishment and potential for continued excellence in research and scholarly or creative activity.

     Last month, Distinguished Academic Outreach Awards were presented to Communication professor Sut Jhally, Biology professor Ed Klekowski and Leda McKenry, associate professor of Nursing.