A report of honors, awards, offices and other outstanding achievements of faculty and staff members.
Jane Block, a professor of library administration and a librarian at the Ricker Library of Architecture and Art, was chosen to participate in an exchange between the UI and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL), Belgium's largest university. During her one-month stay, Block was completing research for a book on Gisbert Combaz (1869-1941), a Belgian turn-of-the century artist.
Chris Butler, history teacher at University Laboratory High School, has received a Golden Apple award from WICD-Channel 15. The award recognizes outstanding teachers nominated by parents and students from throughout the Channel 15 viewing area. Butler was featured in an evening news segment in mid-March.
Ollie Watts Davis, professor of music, recently was initiated into Sigma Alpha Iota as a National Honorary Member. The professional music fraternity for women awards honorary membership to selected female performers, composers or conductors who have achieved both national and international prominence and critical acclaim. Davis, a lyric soprano, has sung extensively throughout the United States performing solos and operatic roles.
Norman K. Denzin, College of Communications Scholar and research professor in the Institute of Communications Research, is the 1997 recipient of the George Herbert Mead Award. This award is given annually by the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction "to an individual whose career contributions to the advancement of the study of human behavior and social life best exemplify the tradition and spirit of George Herbert Mead."
Thomas J. Hanratty, professor of chemical engineering, will receive the Multiphase Flow International Prize in 1998. Hanratty, the first recipient of the award, was recognized for his lifetime achievement in research and his international leadership in multiphase flow, for developing a phenomenological understanding of multiphase flows that relates large scale behavior to small scale-interactions. The prize will be presented at the International Conference on Multiphase Flow in 1998 in Lyon, France.
Wen-Mei Hwu, professor of electrical and computer engineering, has been named to receive the C. Holmes MacDonald Outstanding Teaching Award for 1997. The MacDonald award is given annually by Eta Kappa Nu (HKN), the national electrical engineering honor society, to a young electrical engineering professor who has demonstrated outstanding contributions and achievements in teaching, scholarship, research and innovation, and for civic and industrial relations. The ECE department and HKN will formally present the award in ceremonies this fall on campus.
Susan Maul, director of the Illini Union, was presented with the Most Supportive Faculty/Staff of Asian Pacific Students award. Maul was cited for her concern for the quality of life for APA students and the years of support she has given to Asian American students on the UI campus. She has chaired committees, advised the Asian Pacific American Resource Committee, and hosted students at her home for meals and mentoring. She received the award at the 1997 Asian Pacific American Leadership Awards. She played a pivotal role in the establishment of funds for "culture specific and cross-cultural Asian Pacific American programming on campus" and for the establishment of the position of APA assistant dean.
Heinrich Taube, professor of music, received the first prize in the computer-assisted composition category at the ler Concours International de Logiciels Musicaux 1st International Music Software Competition in Bourges, France.
Winners of the 1996-97 Student Affairs Outstanding Staff Award: Marilyn Best, health educator in the Office of the Dean of Students; Matthew Ducatt, assistant director for operations, Illini Union; and Jennifer Peacock, secretary III (transcribing), student financial aids, were selected by a committee of faculty and staff members. Criteria for the award include exceptional service to students, the university, to activities on this campus and to Student Affairs. Each candidate must be nominated by three people, including one student.
The Staff Advisory Council has announced the winners in its recent election.
Barbara Franklin, staff secretary, department of educational policy
studies, was elected as a representative from the EEO group 04 (clerical/secretarial).
David Teets, instructional communications technical operator I, Office
of Instructional Resources, was the only candidate in the EEO group 05 (technical
and paraprofessional). Each will serve a four-year term, which began July
1. The council, which includes eight elected members representing general
employee groups on campus, acts as an advisory board and meets regularly
with the director of the Personnel Services Office.
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