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TWU
to recognize faculty at Honors Convocation
4/15/08
DENTON —
Texas Woman’s University will honor 10 faculty members
in a celebration of excellence Thursday, April 24 during Honors
Convocation. Ceremonies begin at 10 a.m. in the Margo Jones
Performance Hall, located at Oakland and Sawyer streets on
TWU’s Denton campus.
TWU faculty receiving
recognition are:
• Dr. Jim Alexander, professor emeritus of government
— the Cornaro Award
• Dr. DiAnna Hynds, assistant professor of biology and
Dr. Mark Hamner, associate professor of mathematics and computer
science — the Mary Mason Lyon Award
• Dr. Thomas K. Brown, professor of music — the
Humphries Award
• Dr. Jeffrey Robb, associate professor of history and
government — Distinction in Service
• Ms. Joan Wall, professor of music — Distinction
in Teaching
• Dr. Mahesh S. Raisinghani, associate professor of
business and economics — Distinction in Scholarship
• Dr. Mary Frances Baxter, associate professor of occupational
therapy at TWU’s Houston Center— Distinction in
Distance Education and
• Dr. Alfred H. White, Jr., professor and chair of communication
sciences and disorders — Innovation in Academia.
Recognition also
will be given to Dr. Lynda Uphouse, professor of biology,
for being TWU’s nominee for the Minnie Stevens Piper
Professor Award, which is given to 15 outstanding higher education
faculty in the state.
The Cornaro
Award — Dr. Jim Alexander
The Cornaro Award
recognizes an outstanding faculty member for excellence in
teaching, scholarship and achievement. The award is named
in honor of Elena Lucrezia Cornaro de la Piscopia, the first
woman ever to receive a doctoral degree (University of Padua,
1678).
Dr. Alexander came
to TWU in 1980 and embarked on a distinguished career that
included 23 years of service as the Chair of the Department
of History and Government before he retired in 2007.
“Dr. Alexander
has been a beloved and extremely effective teacher, especially
in his signature Constitutional Law Courses,” said Dr.
Jeffrey Robb, TWU associate professor of government. “His
gift has been to teach students that, although the conflict
of ideas is an essential aspect of a liberal arts education,
they must strive to learn to agree to disagree agreeably.”
Dr. Alexander also
has a long record of making presentations at national and
state organizations on criminal justice, leadership and municipal
government. He was the guiding force in establishing the Law
Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT) at TWU,
which brings more than 1,600 law enforcement professional
to TWU each year for intensive three-week seminars. This program
is known internationally for improving law enforcement techniques
and has generated more than $8 million in grant funds for
TWU.
Dr. Alexander served
on the Denton City Council for six years before his term expired
in 1992. He has been a member of the Denton Independent School
District’s Board of Trustees since 1993.
The Mary
Mason Lyon Award
The Mary Mason
Lyon Award is presented to faculty members who are developing
excellent records of teaching, research and service. Award
recipients this year are Dr. DiAnna Hynds, assistant professor
of biology, and Dr. Mark Hamner, associate professor of math.
Dr. DiAnna
Hynds
Dr. Hynds has been
a popular teacher, dedicated researcher and sought-after mentor
since joining the TWU biology department in 2003. She consistently
receives outstanding evaluations from her students, who named
her as their “Favorite Teacher” in 2004.
She was a Chancellor’s
Research Fellow in 2005-2006 and has had her research published
in the “Journal of Neurochemistry” and the “Journal
of Neuroscience Methods” among others. She also has
presented at national conferences, including at the Annual
Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the Annual Biomedical
Research Conference for Minority Students. Dr. Hynds also
has mentored more than 20 undergraduate and graduate students
in TWU’s Multi-Ethnic Biomedical Research Support (MBRS)
program, chaired the department’s search for faculty,
served on the graduate curriculum committee and was the chair
of the Federation Neuroscience Committee, where she organized
the annual research symposium.
“Dr. Hynds
is a dedicated scientist and teacher,” said Dr. Sarah
McIntire, professor and chair of TWU’s biology department.
“She shows outstanding progress in her academic career
and the promise of continued success into the future.”
Dr. Mark
Hamner
Since coming to
TWU in 2000, Dr. Hamner has been recognized for his service
by his department, college and the university.
His students describe
him as fair, challenging, organized, thorough, enthusiastic
and effective. He is known for his support of individual student
research having served as the chair of five master’s
theses, two professor’s papers and on the doctoral committees
and thesis professional paper committees of several students.
“I was captivated
by Dr. Hamner’s enthusiasm and memorable real world
examples of statistics at work,” said Lindsay Renfro,
TWU alumna and doctoral candidate in statistics at Baylor
University. “With each lecture, he not only provided
us with the methods we would need to draw our own conclusions
from data, but also poignantly illustrated the importance
of questioning and re-evaluating the statistical information
we encounter on a daily basis.”
Dr. Hamner is an
active and productive researcher, having published four peer-reviewed
papers and presented papers at five national and seven regional
conferences, including the Mathematics Association of America,
the American Society for Engineering Education and the American
Statistical Association.
His service to
the TWU Department of Mathematics and Computer Science includes
as a member of the Graduate Council, the Honors Advisory Council
and the MBRS Grant Renewal Advisory Committee. He also has
served as a judge for several TWU Science Fairs and for the
Exxon-Mobil Regional Science Fair.
The Humphries
Award — Dr. Thomas K. Brown
The Humphries Award
for Dedication to TWU is presented to faculty who have, through
their loyalty and actions, proved to be a model to all and
a treasure to TWU.
In his nearly 40
years as a TWU faculty member, Dr. Brown has been highly visible
and audible in his role as university organist. He plays at
every university Honors Convocation and Commencement Ceremony
and has played for the inaugurations of four university presidents.
His fine musicianship, innovative programming and dedication
to his art have been evident in his annual faculty recitals
and at holiday concert performances.
He has served the
TWU Music Department as interim chair, newsletter editor and
has chaired the peer review and music honors committees. Dr.
Brown has served the community and profession through his
involvement in both the Dallas and Fort Worth chapters of
the American Guild of Organists, membership in the Greater
Denton Arts Council and as the organizer and executive director
of the Denton Festival of Carols from 1981-1992, an event
that brought more than 850 musicians to TWU.
“Dr. Brown
is a model of professionalism, courtesy and caring,”
said Dr. Pamela Youngblood, TWU professor of music. “His
students enjoy his sense of humor and appreciate his devotion
to their progress. He also is a superb colleague who cares
deeply about the music department as a whole and all of the
individuals connected with it.”
The Distinction
in Service Award — Dr. Jeffrey Robb
The award for Distinction
in Service is presented to a faculty member who has developed
an exemplary record of service to one’s component, the
university, one’s professional field of study and/or
the community.
Since joining the
TWU Department of History and Government’s faculty in
1993, Dr. Robb has had a distinguished record of service to
his students, department and to the university. He currently
serves on three university-wide committees and has recently
been named as the chair of the Academic Integrity Committee.
He also has had a distinguished career in the TWU Faculty
Senate, serving as its speaker from 2006-2007.
Dr. Robb has served
on the board of the Denton Musical Theatre and the Denton
Christian Preschool for at-risk children. He also has volunteered
for the Denton Habitat for Humanity’s Ruth’s Room
resale shop since it opened seven years ago.
Professionally,
he is currently the president of the Executive Council of
the Southwest Pre-Law Advisory Association.
“Dr. Robb
has a strong commitment to service and volunteer activism,”
said Patricia R. Devereaux, senior lecturer in history and
government. “He is the type of person this award was
created to recognize.”
Distinction
in Teaching — Ms. Joan Wall
The award for Distinction
in Teaching is presented to TWU faculty who have distinguished
records of teaching and dedication to improving their teaching
and the learning of their students.
After 44 years
of exemplary teaching and service at TWU, Ms. Wall will retire
at the end of the spring 2008 semester. Ms. Wall has noted
on more than one occasion that while she loves performing,
she is even more passionate about teaching and about sharing
her love of music and how to teach it with others.
She has been instrumental
in establishing TWU as one of the country’s highest-regarded
vocal pedagogy programs. She also is the author of several
publications and commercial videos that are widely used at
colleges and universities around the country.
“Professor
Wall’s long-time commitment and dedication to TWU, its
students, to music in general and to teaching music in particular
are both impressive and inspiring,” said Dr. James H.
Chenevert, professor and chair of the TWU Music and Drama
Department.
The Distinction
in Scholarship Award — Dr. Mahesh S. Raisinghani
The award for Distinction
in Scholarship is presented to a faculty member who has evidenced
a distinguished record of scholarship and dedication to improving
knowledge and understanding in their discipline
Since joining TWU
three years ago, Dr. Raisinghani has made significant contributions
in teaching, research and publication. He has authored four
books, peer-reviewed 27 chapters and developed supplemental
instruction materials for five manuals. In addition, he has
peer-reviewed five manuscripts, edited 22 articles and completed
two book reviews.
Dr. Raisinghani also has made numerous presentations at local,
national and international conferences, all while teaching
a full course load.
“Dr. Raisinghani’s
in-depth knowledge, coupled with his passion for business
has energized his students and fellow faculty members to think
outside the box on a global scale,” said Christy Ahsanullah,
2006 TWU EMBA graduate.
The Distinction
in Distance Education — Dr. Mary Frances Baxter
The award for Distinction
in Distance Education is presented to a faculty member who
has made distinguished contributions to e-learning through
program or curriculum development or teaching.
Dr. Baxter has
served as a mentor to both occupational therapy and physical
therapy faculty in developing a model for effective teaching
in distance learning. In 2003, she developed the Advanced
Pediatric Certificate course, an interdisciplinary occupational
therapy/physical therapy graduate certificate course. Since
the creation of this program, occupational and physical therapists
from all over the country have come to recognize TWU as an
institution providing exceptional education opportunities
at the graduate level.
In addition to
developing the Advanced Pediatric Certificate and being an
instructor in two core master’s-level courses, Dr. Baxter
also has acted as a consultant with faculty on a number of
online courses taught in TWU’s School of Occupational
Therapy.
“Her willingness
to share her wealth of knowledge with her colleagues in distance
education has resulted in the School of Occupational Therapy
having a national reputation for quality e-learning graduate
instruction,” said Dr. Marsha Neville-Smith, TWU assistant
professor of occupational therapy.
The Innovation
in Academia Award — Dr. Alfred H. White Jr.
The award for Innovation
in Academia is presented to a faculty member who has influenced
the university in a manner that continually contributes to
new growth and progress.
Dr. White joined
TWU in 1975 as the director of deaf education. His colleagues
note his visionary and innovation in being one of the pioneers
in incorporating distance education technology. He helped
to create the TWU Texas Education Telecommunications Network
(TETN) Speech Language Pathology program, which has awarded
400 students with a master’s degree since its inception
in the early 1990s.
Also, he worked
with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the
TWU Distance Learning Program to create the online program
in deaf education. He also worked with school districts in
need of speech pathologists to place TWU graduates at these
districts under the supervision of TWU faculty.
“Those of
us who work with him day to day have great admiration for
the energy and discipline that Dr. White continues to bring
to his job after 33 years of service,” said Dr. Delaina
Walker-Batson, professor and director of the TWU Stroke Center-Dallas.
###
Media Contact:
Amanda Simpson
Director of News and Information
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: asimpson1@twu.edu |
