Excellence in Education: UC Honors Contributors from Across the University at 2006 Faculty Awards Celebration

Tens of thousands of people travel to the University of Cincinnati’s campuses every day. Students alone number more than 35,000, and UC employs nearly 15,000 workers, including more than 5,000 faculty members. Despite the myriad number of activities related to an enterprise involving so many people, the baseline role of the university remains and will always be higher education.

Honoring those who have excelled at the work of higher education has been a traditional function each May, with the announcement of faculty awards. This year, UC will honor more faculty than ever before, with the first Faculty Awards Celebration ceremony on May 8, and the awarding of two new award categories, the UC|21 President’s Excellence Awards and the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Awards.

In all, 20 members of the faculty will be honored in a ceremony sponsored by the Faculty Senate and the President’s Office in the Great Hall of Tangeman University Center. The ceremony is also available for viewing over the Web at the following link: http://www.uc.edu/ucvision.

Details on the criteria for each award can be found here.

The 2006 winners, by category, include:

UC|21 President’s Excellence Award

Six faculty members have been selected as winners of the award in this, the inaugural year for the UC|21 President’s Excellence Award.

The winners include:

• Marjorie C. Aaron, Professor of Practice, College of Law
• Pankaj B. Desai, Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy
• James H. Gage, Professor and Resident Lighting Designer, College-Conservatory of Music
• Donna M. Gates, Professor and Jane E. Procter Endowed Chair, College of Nursing
• William R. Heineman, Distinguished Research Professor, Chemistry, McMicken College of Arts & Sciences
• Lowanne E. Jones, Associate Professor, Romance Languages and Literature, McMicken College of Arts & Sciences

Profiles of this year's President's Excellence Award winners are available here.

Established Entrepreneurial Award

Steven Boyce, a Professor of Surgery/Biomedical Engineering in the Colleges of Medicine and Engineering, is the 2006 winner of this award, which honors a faculty member with five or more years of successful entrepreneurial technology ventures based on UC research and/or intellectual property.

A profile of Boyce is available here.

Emerging Entrepreneur Award

Professor Estel D. Sprague and Research Associate Robert T. Vorhees, both from the Chemistry Department of the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, are the 2006 winners of this award, which honors faculty who have successfully launched a new technology venture during the past five years, based on UC research and/or intellectual property.

A profile of Sprague and Vorhees' work is available here.

Distinguished Teaching Professor

Charles H. Matthews, Professor of Management in the College of Business, is the 2006 recipient of this award, which becomes part of his title and is the highest level of recognition for achievements and contributions in university teaching.

A profile of Matthews is available here.

Distinguished Research Professor

Makram T. Suidan, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the College of Engineering, is the 2006 recipient of this award, which becomes part of his title and is the highest level of recognition for achievement and contributions in research at UC.

A profile of Suidan is available here.

Faculty Senate University Service Awards

Bruce S. Ault, Professor of Chemistry in the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, and Nancy R. Hamant, Associate Professor in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services, are the 2006 winners of this award, which is only in its second year of existence. The award is presented by the Faculty Senate and recognizes faculty who have made significant and sustained service contributions to the university during their careers at UC.

Profiles of Ault and Hamant are available here.

Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Awards

Phyllis E. Breen, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders in the College of Allied Health Sciences, and Allison Hughes-Maldonado, Adjunct Instructor of Romance Languages and Literatures in the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, are the 2006 winners of this award, which honors teachers who have made outstanding contributions to the UC|21 goals of placing students at the center and achieving academic excellence.

A profile of Breen is available here.

A profile of Hughes-Maldonado is available here.

George Barbour Award for Promoting Good Faculty-Student Relations

Gila Safran Naveh, Professor of Judaic Studies in the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, is the 2006 winner of this award, which honors faculty who demonstrate involvement, genuine concern, sensitivity and commitment towards their students.

A profile of Naveh is available here.

Mrs. A.B. "Dolly" Cohen Award for Excellence in Teaching

Kenneth L. Ghee, Associate Professor of Psychology in the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, and M. Ann Welsh, Professor of Management in the College of Business, are 2006 recipients of this award, which honors outstanding commitment to teaching at UC.

A profile of Ghee is available here.

A profile of Welsh is available here.

George Rieveschl Jr. Award for Creative or Scholarly Works

Jenefer M. Robinson, Professor of Philosophy from the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, is the 2006 recipient of this award, which recognizes distinguished achievements of national and international acclaim in the areas of scholarly and/or creative work.

A profile of Robinson is available here.

George Rieveschl Jr. Award for Distinguished Scientific Research

Andrew J. Steckl, Gieringer Professor and Ohio Eminent Scholar in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science in the College of Engineering, is the 2006 recipient of this award, which annually honors a member of the faculty for professional achievement in science.

A profile of Steckl is available here.