Faculty members from each college were recognized during UCF’s annual Founders’ Day ceremony.
University Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching: Joanna Z. Mishtal, College of Sciences. Mishtal is an assistant professor of anthropology who joined UCF in 2008 after completing her postdoctoral fellowship in medical anthropology and public health at Columbia University. She specializes in cultural medical anthropology, and her research focuses on gender and reproductive rights in the European Union, Poland and Ireland. In 2009, Mishtal co-developed the medical anthropology minor for non-anthropology students to promote an interest in the global health fields. She has also organized anthropology writing workshops for Honors in the Major students, as well as the Writing Across Curriculum program to develop writing skills in anthropology undergraduate students.
Winners from each college were: Ilenia Colón Mendoza, Martha Garcia, Chiara Mazzucchelli and Adele Richardson, College of Arts and Humanities; Stefanie Mayfield Garcia and Ann Marie Whyte, College of Business Administration; Kelly Jennings-Towle and Karen W. Verkler, College of Education; Mostafa Bassiouni and Ruey-Hung Chen, College of Engineering and Computer Science; Carol M. Bast and Suha M. Saleh, College of Health and Public Affairs; Vicki Lavendol, Rosen College of Hospitality Management; William Safranek, College of Medicine; Erica Hoyt, College of Nursing; and Elena Flitsiyan, Shari v. N. Hodgson, Peter J. Jacques and Graham A.J. Worthy, College of Sciences.
University Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching: Donna Bobek Schmitt, College of Business Administration. Schmitt is an associate accounting professor and the college’s first Kenneth G. Dixon Research Fellow. Schmitt, whose area of interest is behavioral tax research, also serves as the editor for Advances in Accounting Behavioral Research. She also advises the Epsilon Gamma chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, an honorary society for accounting and finance majors at UCF. In addition, Schmitt is the organizer of the annual Dixon School Women in Accounting Symposium and serves as curriculum committee chair for the School of Accounting.
Winners from each college were: Peter L. Larson, College of Arts and Humanities; William B. Russell III, College of Education; Joseph J. LaViola Jr., College of Engineering and Computer Science; Wendell C. Lawther, College of Health and Public Affairs; Heejung Ro, Rosen College of Hospitality Management; Sasan Fathpour, College of Optics and Photonics; and Barbara A. Fritzsche, College of Sciences.
University Award for Excellence in Research: Alexander M. Cole, College of Medicine. Cole serves as the Ph.D. Program Coordinator in the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. He has taught a variety of immunology and molecular biology courses at UCF since 2003, and currently serves as a faculty reviewer for the Undergraduate Research Journal. Cole has also conducted research about the body’s natural antibiotics and how they can be used to fight against HIV.
Winners from each college were: David L. Brunner, College of Arts and Humanities; Ramarao Desiraju, College of Business Administration; Haiyan Bai, College of Education; Scott C. Hagen, College of Engineering and Computer Science; Jennifer E. Kent-Walsh, College of Health and Public Affairs; David J. Kwun, Rosen College of Hospitality Management; Vicki Loerzel, College of Nursing; Ayman Abouraddy, College of Optics and Photonics; and Will Crampton, College of Sciences.
University Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Faculty Academic Advising: Kirk J. Gay, College of Arts and Humanities, and Marcye S. Hampton, College of Business Administration.
Gay is a percussion instructor who serves as the principal percussionist with the Brevard Symphony Orchestra. He has served as coordinator of undergraduate studies, and currently directs Black Steel, the steel drum ensemble at UCF. Gay, who teaches student lessons at the percussion studio, has also written for the bands at Cypress Creek High School in Florida, Churchill High School in Texas and Northrop High School in Indiana. He has also toured Europe with New World Symphony, and performed with the Walt Disney World Orchestra, the Fort Wayne and Orlando philharmonics.
Hampton serves as an instructor and assistant to the director of the Kenneth G. Dixon School of Accounting. She received her MBA with a specialization in accounting in 1996 and currently provides advising services for undergraduate accounting students. Hampton teaches courses in taxation of business entities and financial accounting and has served on the executive committee of the Dixon School of Accounting Alumni Chapter.
University Award for Excellence in Professional Academic Advising: Gail A. Raymond, College of Health and Public Affairs. Raymond oversees graduation certifications, assists at orientations, maintains the degree audit systems and advises students who are at risk of academic probation. As an academic advisor in the office of undergraduate student services, Raymond also helps transition new transfer students during their first term at UCF.
University Awards for Excellence in Professional Service: Thomas A. Bryer, College of Health and Public Affairs, and James D. Wright, College of Sciences.
Bryer serves as an assistant professor and the director of the Center for Public and Nonprofit Management. A member of the University Faculty Senate, Bryer has also chaired and served on the College of Health and Public Affairs Faculty Council. Bryer’s research focuses on government-citizen relations, bureaucratic responsiveness and citizen engagement. He has also advised the Masters in Public Administration Student Association and the Organization for Public Administration.
Wright has been recognized as the Provost’s Distinguished Research Professor in the department of sociology and serves as the director of the UCF Institute for Social and Behavioral Sciences. Wright research focuses on homelessness, poverty, applied and evaluation methods, inequality and survey methods. In addition, he has published more than 21 books, including his latest Poor and Homeless in the Sunshine State: Down and Out in Theme Park Nation with Amy M. Donley.
University Award for Excellence in Librarianship: Andrew Todd, BCC/UCF Joint-Use Library. Todd has served as a reference librarian for UCF’s regional campuses since 2003 and received his Masters of Library Science from the University of South Florida. Currently based at UCF’s Cocoa campus, Todd has developed collections for various departments and programs, including nursing, political science, history, business and criminal justice.
Recognition of Service to the University, 45 Years of Service: Frank E. Juge, Rosen College of Hospitality Management; David L. Block, Division of Research and Commercialization.
Recognition of Service to the University, 40 Years of Service: Robert L. Bledsoe, College of Sciences.
Recognition of Service to the University, 30 Years of Service: Dan Jones and Pat Rushin, College of Arts and Humanities; Thomas L. Martin and Robert L. Pennington, College of Business Administration; Marty Hopkins, College of Education; Kathy S. Cook, College of Health and Public Affairs; Abraham Pizam, Rosen College of Hospitality Management; Lee Chow, College of Sciences; Elliot Vittes, Office of Undergraduate Studies; and Robin Vieira, Division of Research and Commercialization.
Recognition of Service to the University, 20 Years of Service: Robert T. Reedy and Ayako Yonetani, College of Arts and Humanities; Anthony Byrd and Patricia J. Euzent, College of Business Administration; Manoj Chopra, Robert L. Hoekstra and Andrew Amis Randall, College of Engineering and Computer Science; Julia Pet-Armacost, College of Medicine; Peter J. Delfyett J. and Aravinda Kar, College of Optics and Photonics; John R. Cannon, College of Sciences; and Susan T. Schleith and Ronald Tarr, Division of Research and Commercialization.
Retired and Retiring Faculty:
Priscilla V. Brain, College of Arts & Humanities; Jeffrey Allen, Peggy Dwyer, Andrew J. Judd, Marcia Veit and Judith K. Welch, College of Business Administration; Timothy R. Blair, Cheryl Wienke, and Wilfred Wienke, College of Education; Kent Williams, College of Engineering and Computer Science; Pam Kirby and Steve Lytle, College of Health and Public Affairs; Julia Pet-Armacost, College of Medicine; Karen Dennis, College of Nursing; Ralph E. Bradford, John (Jeff) Butler, Penelope Canan and Mourad E. Ismail, College of Sciences; Consuelo E. Stebbins, Division of Academic Affairs; Charles J. Cromer, Craig Maytrott and William Young, Division of Research and Commercialization.