Interim Chancellor and Provost Kristin Sobolik and UM System President Mun Choi recognized the contributions of faculty and staff members last Thursday. Front row: Sobolik, Nan Kammann-Judd, David L. Garin, Kurt Schreyer, Anita Manion, Tiffany Magee, Emily Brown and Janice Petty. Back row: Carl Bassi, Gualtiero Piccinini, Rachel Winograd and Michael Porterfield. (Photos by August Jennewein)
Interim Chancellor and Provost Kristin Sobolik highlighted the contributions of University of Missouri–St. Louis faculty and staff during the annual State of the University Address and Faculty and Staff Recognition ceremony.
Sobolik honored five faculty and three staff members with Chancellor’s Awards as well as two faculty with the Gerald and Deanne Gitner Excellence in Teaching Award and presented the inaugural Retiree of the Year Awards. University of Missouri System President Mun Choi also presented the University of Missouri System President’s Award for Intercampus Collaboration.
The faculty honorees:
Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research and Creativity
Gualtiero Piccinini, Curators’ Distinguished Professor for the Department of Philosophy and Center for Neurodynamics
Piccinini has focused his research on the intersection of philosophy and cognitive science. He’s published numerous papers throughout his career as well as a book “Physical Computation: A Mechanistic Account” in 2015. The International Association for Computing and Philosophy awarded him the 2014 Herbert A. Simon Award for Outstanding Research in Computing and Philosophy, and in 2018, Piccinini received the K. Jon Barwise Prize from the American Philosophical Association, which recognizes significant and sustained contributions to areas relevant to philosophy and computing.
Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching
Kurt Schreyer, associate professor in the Department of English
Schreyer is well known for his student-centered approach in the classroom and his scholarly specialty in Shakespeare. In 2014, Cornell University Press published his book “Shakespeare’s Medieval Craft: Remnants of the Mysteries on the London Stage,” and he’s in the process of writing another on the theatrical and literary cultures of the Royal Navy during the Age of Sail. He’s published widely and is continuously invited to present papers and review published works.
Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Campus Service
Carl Bassi, professor and director of research in the College of Optometry
Bassi’s research centers on developing novel approaches to evaluate the visual system in several patient populations with the goal of improving disease diagnosis, assessment of progression and treatment. Outside of the classroom, he’s known for his work helping develop the Triple Track putting technology now being used for several Callaway golf balls. However, at UMSL, he’s built a reputation as an excellent educator. In 1998 and again in 2008, he was honored with the Outstanding Optometric Educator Award in the College of Optometry. He’s been a member of the Institutional Review Board since 2003 and currently serves as chair.
Chancellor’s Award for Excellence to a Non-Tenure Track Faculty Member
Anita Manion, associate teaching professor and director of undergraduate studies for the Department of Political Science
Manion’s research interests include the impact of policy on issues of economic inequality. She is currently analyzing the public funding of higher education through merit-based and need-based aid in the state of Missouri – specifically the impacts on access, time to completion and completion rates. She has been focused on student and community engagement, serving as chair of the political science undergraduate committee, a fellow for student orientation, a member of the civic engagement coalition and Constitution Day committee, advisor for the Political Science Academy and Pi Sigma Alpha and a liaison for the Advanced Credit Program. Manion also helps to inform and engage the public through her political analysis on media outlets such as St. Louis Public Radio, PBS and KSDK.
Chancellor’s Award for Excellence to a Part-Time Faculty Member
Michael Porterfield, adjunct assistant professor in the department of education science and instructional designer in the Center for Teaching and Learning
Porterfield has been an adjunct assistant professor with UMSL since 2004. In 2011, he became an instructional designer, for which he conducts national workshops and seminars on how to transition in-person courses online and incorporating technology into teaching and learning. He is a campus advocate in reducing costs for in-house technology. He’s published numerous articles and presented at many conferences across the U.S. and the St. Louis area and has served on several boards and committees advocating for technological improvements across campus.
During the Faculty and Staff Recognition Ceremony, Interim Chancellor and Provost Kristin Sobolik recognized faculty and staff who have served at the university for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 years.
The Gerald and Deanne Gitner Excellence in Teaching Award is presented annually to faculty members in the early years of their careers who show great promise in their scholarship and exemplary devotion to students
Emily Brown, assistant professor in the Department of Education Sciences and Professional Programs
Brown has six years of experience as a professional school counselor in urban elementary schools. She has been a licensed professional counselor in North Carolina since 2010 and a National Certified Counselor since 2008. While completing her doctoral work, she served as project manager for an NIH-SEPA funded grant that provided postsecondary education and STEMM – science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine – awareness interventions to rural Appalachian high school students. Her research interests include school counseling services with marginalized groups, particularly children of incarcerated parents, and child-centered play therapy.
Karlijn Kuijpers, assistant professor for the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Kuijpers’s research interest involves crime victimization, with a particular focus on the risk for intimate partner violence. She is also interested in the victim-offender overlap and perceptions on victims and victimization. A member of the American Society of Criminology, the ASC Division of Victimology and the Western Society of Criminology, Kuijpers has published widely on intimate partner violence and has presented her work internationally.
The staff honorees:
Chancellor’s Award for Staff Excellence in the administrative professional category
Tiffany Magee, student success and retention coordinator for the College of Nursing
During her time at UMSL, Magee has received several recognitions: the Excellence in Service to Students Award from The National Society of Leadership and Success in 2013; the Student Involvement Award from the UMSL Office of Student Involvement in 2017; and, also in 2017, the Outstanding Professional Award from the UMSL Division of Student Affairs. She is exceptional at building an environment of inclusion by promoting student organizations such as the Student Nurses Association and the Minority Nurses Association, and she fosters teamwork between faculty and staff in support of the students.
Chancellor’s Award for Staff Excellence in the office administrative category
Kathy Burney, support specialist for the Department of Biology
An essential part of delivering exceptional experiences to students, faculty, staff and community members in the Department of Biology, Burney contributes to student retention by assuring that the department runs smoothly. She’s served as a mentor for numerous junior staff members and has trained several who have now moved to more senior positions with the College of Arts and Sciences. Burney demonstrates exceptional willingness to solve problems and aid students, faculty and staff. Mostly recently, she helped student interns open bank accounts, a requirement for the paid internship program.
Chancellor’s Award for Staff Excellence in the service maintenance category
Janice Petty, custodian in maintenance operations
Though Petty works tirelessly year-round to keep UMSL spotless, her hard work shines during the winter months when she can be found repeatedly mopping away snow and ice from the entrance ways and hallways. She’s beloved by students, faculty and staff, who appreciate her concern for cleanliness and safety and note her smiling face and compassion.
University of Missouri System President Mun Choi (right) presented Missouri Institute of Mental Health Associate Professor of Research Rachel Winograd with the President’s Award for Intercampus Collaboration during Thursday’s State of the University Address, which Interim Chancellor and Provost Kristin Sobolik gave to a crowd of faculty and staff.
Choi formally presented the University of Missouri System President’s Award for Intercampus Collaboration to Rachel Winograd, associate professor of research at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health. The award was first announced in April. Winograd’s research pursuits and intellectual interests have focused on aspects of alcohol and drug misuse, consequences, treatment and risk mitigation. She’s investigated and published on the topics of acute alcohol intoxication and personality, young alcohol misuse, impulsivity in drinking behavior and treatments for young adult problematic drinking. Her focus has switched to opioid use disorder treatment and overdose prevention. Since coming to UMSL, she’s been noted for her work researching and combating the opioid crisis in Missouri and leads the Missouri Opioid State Targeted Response grant efforts as director.
Sobolik also recognized the inaugural Retiree of the Year Award recipients:
Retiree of the Year Award – Faculty
David L. Garin joined the faculty in the Department of Chemistry in 1966 and retired in 1999. He worked as an organic chemist. Since retirement he has remained active with the university, serving as president of the UMSL Retirees Association for 10 years. During that period, he at times did almost everything for the association, including writing meeting minutes and the newsletter, arranging events and keeping the operation going. He has also been very active with the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, where he has served continuously on the board for 20 years. He has also been very interested and active in science policy, and this interest has coalesced with his interest in education. For example, he funded a UMSL Science Policy Award and continues to promote activity in science policy on the campus. He has a record of participation in a range civic activities and in preserving Forest Park and other park land in the city of St. Louis.
Retiree of the Year Award – Staff
Nan Kammann-Judd retired from UMSL in 2000 and, since then, has volunteered countless hours in planning, designing, and promoting the St. Louis Storytelling Festival. This festival, begun at UMSL in 1979, is nationally respected and dedicated to the oral tradition of storytelling. It serves as an important community connection between the university and the community. Inspired by her work with the UMSL’s festival, Kammann-Judd copied the concept to plan similar festivals in Belleville, Illinois. She has also served as an honorary chair of the national festival and as a guest editor for one of the National Storytelling Network’s publications. Even though retired for almost two decades, Nan Kammann-Judd retains a close connection with the campus by working closely with campus and system staff in designing, coordinating, and publicizing each year’s St. Louis Storytelling Festival.
