agricultural, consumer and environmental sciences
Alumni, faculty and staff members, and students in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences were honored April 23 for their contributions.
Receiving the Paul A. Funk Recognition Award, the highest faculty honor, were Mark B. David, a professor of natural resources and environmental sciences, and Michael Ellis and Douglas F. Parrett, professors of animal sciences.
The Spitze Land-Grant Professorial Career Excellence Award was presented to John W. Erdman Jr., a professor of food science and human nutrition.
Alex E. Winter-Nelson, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics, received the Faculty Award for Global Impact.
The Senior Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching went to Ramona F. Oswald, a professor of human and community development. Soo-Yeun Lee, a professor of food science and human nutrition, received the College Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching.
William G. Helferich, a professor of food science and human nutrition, won the Senior Faculty Award for Excellence in Research.
Receiving the Senior Faculty Award for Excellence in Extension was Mosbah M. Kushad, a professor of natural resources and environmental sciences. Aaron G. Hager, a professor and extension specialist in the department of crop sciences, won the College Faculty Award for Excellence in Extension.
The Karl E. Gardner Outstanding Undergraduate Adviser Award went to Alan C. Hansen, a professor of agricultural and biological engineering.
The John Clyde and Henrietta Downey Spitler Teaching Award was presented to Frederic L. Kolb, a professor of crop sciences.
The “Illinois Gardener” team received the Team Award for Excellence. Its members: James E. Appleby, Philip L. Nixon, Dianne A. Noland, Robert M. Skirvin and Thomas B. Voigt, all in the department of natural resources and environmental sciences; Nancy R. Pataky and Donald G. White, crop sciences; Heather E. Lash, a research greenhouse specialist in agriculture, Office of Research; and Sandra L. Mason, Donald E. Meyer and David J. Robson, UI Extension.
Each week, host Noland and a panel of experts answer viewer questions about lawn and garden care. The program is produced by WILL-TV, and is broadcast on WILL-AM (580) as well as public television stations across Illinois.
Winners of the Professional Staff Award for Excellence: Suzanne M. Bissonnette, UI Extension educator, for sustained excellence in teaching and outreach; Ram J. Singh, an agronomist in the department of crop sciences, for sustained excellence in research; E. Louise Rogers, associate dean for development and alumni affairs, for sustained excellence administrative/management or technical contributions; and Jill North Craft, teaching associate in the department of food science and human nutrition, for innovation and creativity.
Staff Awards for Excellence were presented to Karen M. Claus, an office manager in the department of natural resources and environmental sciences, and Donna K. Downen, an account technician II in the department of crop sciences.
The Marcella M. Nance Staff Award was won by Linda M. Pein, an office administrator in the ACES dean’s office.
Eric L. Lien, adjunct professor of food science and human nutrition, received the Service Recognition Award.
applied health sciences
The Mannie L. Jackson Illinois Academic Enrichment and Leadership Program in the College of Applied Health Sciences has been selected as one of five collegiate programs to receive the National Academic Advising Association’s 2009 Outstanding Advising Program Award. The program assists the college’s undergraduates who are first-generation students, those from underrepresented groups, student athletes, as well as participants in the President’s Awards Program, Educational Opportunities Program and Illinois Promise.
Sheri Shaw is director of the program; Kirkshinta Turnipseed is assistant director and academic skills specialist.
business
Ira Solomon, head of the department of accountancy, has earned the top award for educational excellence from the nation’s largest accounting organization.
Solomon received the Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education award from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants during the spring meeting of the governing council for the 350,000-member association on April 26.
Since 1985, the award has been presented annually to a college educator, honoring excellence in teaching and national prominence in the accounting profession.
Solomon’s contributions to accountancy education include Project Discovery, a UI program he helped create that requires students to apply accounting principles to real-world problems through role-playing, case studies and other activities.
engineering
The Optical Society has awarded Paul G. Kwiat, a John Bardeen Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a professor of physics, the R.W. Wood Prize in recognition of developing sources of polarization-entangled photons that have enabled significant advances in fundamental physics and quantum information technologies, including quantum cryptography, dense-coding, quantum teleportation and optical quantum computation.
“Paul Kwiat has demonstrated tremendous ingenuity and has proved himself to be invaluable to the understanding of optics and photonics,” said Elizabeth Rogan, the society’s executive director.
The R.W. Wood Prize was first presented in 1975 and recognizes an outstanding discovery, a scientific or technological achievement or an invention.
Jong-Shi Pang, a Caterpillar professor and head of the department of industrial and enterprise systems engineering, has been selected as a fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
The society “exists to ensure the strongest interactions between mathematics and other scientific and technological communities through membership activities, publication of journals and books, and conferences,” said its Web site.
liberal arts and sciences
Poshek Fu, professor and director of the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies, was awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to do research at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences in China during the 2008-2009 academic year, according to the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Fu has been studying the early formation of Chinese film industries and their interconnections with the developments of cultural entrepreneurship, diasporic networks and global business practice in 20th-century China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
library
Paula T. Kaufman, university librarian and dean of libraries, was honored as the inaugural Juanita J. and Robert E. Simpson Dean of Libraries at an investiture ceremony hosted by Chancellor Richard Herman and Provost Linda Katehi on April 29.
Kaufman joined the university library in 1999 after serving in key library positions at the University of Tennessee and Columbia University. She has four decades of experience as a librarian and has written and made presentations on a number of issues pertaining to scholarly information, privacy, copyright, research libraries, recruitment and leadership.
The Simpsons have supported the library for more than 20 years and share Kaufman’s passion and vision for the University Library. Their gift for this deanship will provide funding for library programs and projects.
secretariat
The UI Secretariat’s 2009 Office Professional of the Year award was presented to Katherine Freeman, office manager in the School of Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics. Freeman was honored at the April 15 Secretariat luncheon held at the Spice Box. Freeman was nominated by Mara Wade, a professor of Germanic languages and literatures.
student affairs
The 2009 Student Affairs Outstanding Staff and Program Award Winners were recently selected and will be honored at a reception on May 8.
The winners: Kirstin Phelps, program director of the Illinois Leadership Center received the award for Outstanding New Professional. Adele Lozano, director of La Casa, and Urias Betoel Escobar, assistant to the director in the Office of Minority Student Affairs, were honored as Outstanding Staff Members. Asian American Cultural Center’s Food for Thought received the award for Outstanding Program.
university administration
Several university administration employees who work on the Urbana campus have been awarded the Distinguished Employee Leadership and Team Award.
Two academic professionals were honored: Janice Gill, director of university accounting services, and Michael Brewer, engineer for UA Utilities.
Civil service honorees: Cheryl Dodge, account technician III and property accounting supervisor for the Office of Business and Financial Services; Lisa Ferris, procedures and systems analyst I for Planning and Administration; and Teresa Howard, administrative assistant I for Planning and Administration.
For the team category, the Office of Grants and Contracts (post award division) was honored.
Now in its second year, the award is designed to annually recognize employees and teams for their exceptional accomplishments and service to the university. The recipients were honored at a banquet April 22. Award recipients received a trophy and $2,500, and team recipients received a trophy and a team award of $15,000 that was divided equally among the team participants. Nominations for this award can be made by any member of the campus community.