UMSL Chancellor Tom George congratulates the five UMSL faculty members to receive President’s Awards, including (from left) Vicki Sauter, Carl Hoagland, Rita Csapó-Sweet, Susann Farberman and Dawn Garzón.

The University of Missouri Board of Curators and UM System President Timothy M. Wolfe honored five University of Missouri–St. Louis faculty members on June 13. They joined 11 faculty members and one student from the other three UM System campuses in receiving the President’s Awards – the highest honor bestowed by the University of Missouri System for excellence in the university’s four mission areas of teaching, research, service and economic development; the Thomas Jefferson Award; the Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award; and the C. Brice Ratchford Memorial Fellowship Award.

“Our award recipients represent the finest of our faculty and students, and the University of Missouri System is made stronger by their hard work and dedication,” Wolfe said. “Every day, each one of our award recipients makes a difference in the lives of Missouri’s citizens and truly advances our state and nation.” 

The UMSL recipients and their honors include:

President’s Award for Cross-Cultural Engagement

Rita M. Csapó-Sweet
Csapó-Sweet is an associate professor of media studies. Since joining the UMSL faculty in 1990, she has worked to establish Hungarian and Eastern European educational and cultural exchange opportunities for the UMSL and St. Louis metropolitan communities. Her efforts have not only opened an artistic cultural exchange, but have facilitated discussions about war and tolerance, and helped reconnect generations of refugees with their heritage. She has also established a student and faculty exchange program with universities in Hungary, Bosnia and Croatia.

President’s Award for Service

Vicki L. Sauter
Sauter is professor of information systems and is motivated to find creative ways to help individuals and organizations use technology to meet their program needs. She created the Information Systems Advisory Board and the Information Systems Mentoring Club to engage students, alumni, faculty, staff and other members of the business community as volunteers. She also actively participates in the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences and has received several awards for her service.

President’s Award for Innovative Teaching

Carl Hoagland
Hoagland is the Emerson Electric Endowed Professor of Teaching and Learning and consistently brings his vision for creating a technologically engaged campus to life. He has developed numerous educational programs using technology to maximize the learning experience. Hoagland created the E. Desmond Lee Technology and Learning Center, a technology-enriched computing center offering individual workstations, as well as UMSL’s Second Life Writing Center, a virtual tutoring and learning space, which includes an Internet-based virtual environment for children with disabilities.

President’s Award for Intercampus Collaboration

Dawn L. Garzón (UMSL), Susann M. Farberman (UMSL), Debra A. Gayer (University of Missouri–Columbia), Diana B. King (University of Missouri–Kansas City) and Virginia R. Rahm (UMKC)
When Gayer saw a growing need for advanced nurse providers with a focus on children, particularly in rural communities in the state, she brought together intercampus faculty resources from MU, UMKC and UMSL to develop an online Pediatric Nurse Practitioner program. By collaborating to develop core pediatric courses, the group was able to improve student learning, and students were able to maximize their exposure to expert faculty on each of the campuses without leaving their own communities. The collaborative nature of the program seeped into the actual coursework as well with students from all campuses and across the state interacting and discussing children’s health care issues.

Visit the UM System website to view the full list of award recipients.