RISING TO HIGH EXPECTATIONS

ECU recognizes achievement, accomplishment at annual awards day

Published Apr 25, 2012 by
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A business professor received the top teaching award at East Carolina University during the annual Founders Day and University Awards Celebration on Wednesday.

Dr. Ravi Paul received the University of North Carolina Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching. Paul is an associate professor in the Department of Management Information Systems in the ECU College of Business.

“I have high expectations for learning, and I believe students rise to the expectations we set for them,” he said after receiving the award.

Also recognized was Dr. Tom Irons, associate vice chancellor for health sciences and professor of pediatrics at the Brody School of Medicine at ECU. Last fall, he received the UNC Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Public Service.  (Related story at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/news/irons.cfm)

“I feel very deeply in the principle of servant leadership,” Irons said. “Ego is a terrible enemy. It’s a terrible mortal enemy, and it gets in the way of serving effectively.” When people don’t care who gets the credit, he said, they can accomplish great things.

“We’ve got to keep the focus on service above self,” Irons said.

Dr. Susan McCammon received the James R. Talton Jr. Leadership Award. She is professor and director of clinical training in the Department of Psychology.

Dr. Jeannie Golden, an associate professor of psychology, received the Scholarship of Engagement Award. It recognizes a sustained commitment to partnering with communities.

Other awards presented during the ceremony were the following:

  • The Board of Governors Distinguished Professor for Teaching Awards recognizes and supports excellent teaching at each of the 16 constituent universities in the UNC system. Six recipients were selected: Dr. Rosa M. Alvarez-Bell of the Department of Chemistry; Dr. Rhonda Evans Case of the Department of Political Science; Dr. Tim Christensen of the Department of Biology; Dr. Kathleen T. Cox of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders; Dr. Kenneth MacLeod of the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management; and Dr. Derrick Wirtz of the Department of Psychology.
  • ECU Scholar-Teacher Awards recognize outstanding faculty members who integrate scholarship and teaching. Recipients were Dr. Christy Ashley of the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management; Drs. Mamadi K. Corra and Lee Maril of the Department of Sociology; Dr. Doyle M. Cummings of the Department of Family Medicine; Dr. Martha K. Engelke of the Department of Nursing Graduate Science; Dr. Carol Kline of the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies; Susan Martin Meggs of the Department of Interior Design and Merchandising; Dr. Robert D. Quinn of the School of Art and Design; Dr. Bonita Sasnett of the Department of Health Services and Information Management; and Dr. Kirk St. Amant of the Department of English.
  • The East Carolina Alumni Association Awards for Outstanding Teaching went to Patricia A. Clark of the School of Theatre and Dance and Dr. Subodh K. Dutta of the Department of Chemistry. The association’s Robert L. Jones Award for Outstanding Teaching went to Dr. Alan C. Taylor of the Department of Child Development and Family Relations.
  • The Max Ray Joyner Award for Faculty Service through Continuing Education honors a faculty member who has shown commitment and enthusiasm in teaching and mentoring off-campus students and who has demonstrated excellence in the delivery of courses through Continuing Studies. The award went to Dr. Peng Li of the Department of Technology Systems.
  • The recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Research or Creative Activity were Dr. Walter Pories of the Department of Surgery and Dr. Jamie Brown Kruse of the Department of Economics.
  • The recipients of the Five-Year Achievement Award for Research or Creative Activity were Dr. Craig Landry of the Department of Economics and Dr. Guili Zhang of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. (Related story at http://www.ecu.edu/news/achievementawards312.cfm.)
  • Also recognized as inventors were Dr. Michael Van Scott of the Department of Physiology, Drs. Qun Lu and Yan-Hua Chen of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology and the late Dr. Anne Kellogg of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
  • Recognized as innovators were Lee Toderick of the Department of Technology Systems and Dr. Runying Chen of the Department of Interior Design and Merchandising.
  • The Centennial Awards for Excellence were presented recognizing four areas: service, leadership, ambition and spirit.

Recipients in the area of service were Hunt McKinnon of the Department of Interior Design and Merchandising and Janice Steed Lewis of Joyner Library.

Recipients in area of leadership were Brenda Morton of the Department of Mathematics, Dr. Margaret Bauer of the Department of English and the Department of Biology leadership team of Dr. Jeff McKinnon, Dr. Terry West and Dr. Mary Farwell.

Recipient of the ambition award was Ara Gregorian of the School of Music. Recipients of the spirit award were Mary Jane Gaddis of the College of Fine Arts and Communication and the STEM faculty team –  Melanie Duffrin, Margaret Wirth and Mary Farwell.

  • In addition, 82 faculty and staff members 17 students were inducted or re-inducted into the Servire Society, which recognizes individuals with 100 or more hours of community service work in the past year.