Vision Awards 2020
The Community Award recognizes faculty and staff who have made significant contributions to enhancing the climate for diversity and inclusion within the School of Engineering for students, faculty and staff. This might include actively engaging in the recruitment of diverse faculty, staff and students; promoting awareness about issues associated with diversity and inclusion among our faculty, staff and students, taking specific measures to enhance the climate for our diverse faculty, staff and students and serving as an advocate for diverse faculty, staff and students. The recipient of the 2020 Excellence in Community Award is Erin Gibbemeyer.
Among her many contributions, Erin's nomination letter pointed out the campus-wide impact that resulted from her work as a Diversity and Social Justice Fellow. Through this opportunity, she compiled and created learning outcomes that may be used by others for evaluating courses that have the Diversity and Social Justice Institutional Learning Goals. Furthermore, her nominator pointed out Erin's efforts to implement universal design in her courses, her commitment to continuous improvement around diversity, equity and inclusion through her participation in various sessions offered through the Inclusive Excellence Academy, and her participation in the COIL Fellows program. Erin's efforts to build a more inclusive community in the School of Engineering are to be commended. Please join us in congratulating Erin Gibbemeyer for receiving the 2020 Excellence in Community Award.
The Engagement and Service Award recognizes faculty and staff who have demonstrated excellence as servant leaders. It is important to note that a servant leader does not have to be a positional leader. A servant leader is a servant first. As such, the recipient of this award demonstrates a commitment to engaging in activities that have made a significant contribution to the common good within the School of Engineering, the University of Dayton or in the local or global community. These activities reflect the manifestations of Marianist charism - people of community, discipleship of equals and leaders in mission. The recipient of the 2020 Excellence in Engagement and Service Award is Judy Grant.
The nomination letter received for Judy called out several key activities that reflect those of a servant leader. Most notably is her work with the SURE program, and her leadership of the Summer Initiatives Coalition which resulted in the first ever Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium (SURS) in 2019. Judy’s contributions in these areas have helped to enhance the quality of summer experiential learning activities, and have allowed the various groups across campus to have greater collective impact in their work. Please join us in congratulating Judy Grant for receiving the 2020 Excellence in Engagement and Service Award.
The Innovation Award recognizes faculty and staff who have made significant contributions to the education of our students through innovative teaching strategies, providing unique experiential learning experiences for students, record of continued demonstrated success in the classroom or engagement in the scholarship of teaching and learning. The recipient of the 2020 Excellence in Innovation Award is Beth Hart.
Beth’s contributions as the coordinator for EGR 103 have resulted in the implementation of innovative teaching strategies, and unique experiential learning opportunities for a diverse group of students. In particular, her work to involve DECA students into the EGR 103 course, creating a section of EGR 103 for teacher education students to help them fulfill their STEM certificate, her integration of diversity, equity and inclusion components into the course, her work with the ETHOS center to better ensure reciprocity through engagement with community partners, and her integration of an international or travel component into sections of the EGR 103 course are to be commended. Additionally, Beth has helped identify and onboard instructors for this course which further extends the impact of her educational innovations. Please join us in congratulating Beth Hart for receiving the 2020 Excellence in Innovation Award.
The Scholarship Award recognizes faculty and staff who have made a significant contribution in the area of scholarship. This could include traditional research or other forms of knowledge generation or a demonstrated commitment to lifelong learning. The recipient of the 2020 Excellence in Scholarship Award is Partha Banerjee.
Partha’s significant research contributions in the areas of digital and dynamic holography, photorefractives, metamaterials, nonlinear optics, computational electromagnetics, and optical trapping over the course of a very long and rewarding career are to be commended. Many of the applications of this work have had a direct impact on humanity making it a great example of “Research for the Common Good.” This work has resulted in over 300 refereed publications and international recognition and awards such as Partha’s indication into the Order of Holoknights. Additionally, Partha’s mentorship of over 40 graduate students, and his service to his Department, the School, the University and his profession are to be commended. Please join us in congratulating Partha Banerjee for receiving the 2020 Excellence in Scholarship Award.