Arts & Sciences Students, Faculty, Staff Recognized at Chancellor's Honors 2008
The Chancellor's Honors Banquet is held each spring to recognize students, faculty, staff and friends of the University of Tennessee for their extraordinary achievements.
Below is a list of awards and the Arts & Sciences students, faculty, staff that were honored:
Torchbearer
John Noel Rader, is a College Scholars student from Cookeville, Tenn. A 4.0 student, Rader serves as president of the Student Government Association and executive secretary and treasurer of the Intrafraternity Council. He is a member of the Chancellor’s Selection Committee, the UT Strategic Planning Committee, the Alumni Association Board of Governors and the Baker Scholars Program, along with 14 other committees and boards. He has studied abroad on two occasions and has served as an intern for the federal government twice. During his freshman year, Rader founded the Dippin’ for Dollars organization, which has since raised more than $10,000 for charity. His leadership and accomplishments are exemplified by his selection as one of only 12 Rhodes Scholar finalists throughout three states.
Anna Rachel York is a global studies and political science major from Crossville, Tenn. York’s leadership has led to several positive changes for UT students. As vice president of the Student Government Association, she worked to institute a study-abroad fee for all students, resulting in an additional $270,000 in scholarships. As an SGA senator, she passed a bill requesting the reinstatement of the lost tradition of Aloha Oe for graduating seniors. Close to 1,000 students and family members attended the event that she helped plan and promote. York also created the Global Studies Society to strengthen the global studies major. As a reflection of these accomplishments and her dedication to the university, she was elected by the student body to serve as a student representative on the Board of Trustees. She also has been an active member of Mortar Board and Delta Delta Delta sorority.
Volunteer of the Year
Lindsay McClain is the 2008 Volunteer of the Year. A junior College Scholars student from Franklin, Tenn., McClain has taken her volunteer work across the globe. She developed two fundraisers through Knoxville Jazz for Justice that have raised more than $11,000 for girls’ education in Northern Uganda, and she traveled to Uganda to implement a music, dance and drama program at Gulu High School. McClain is currently in Uganda, interning with the country’s parliament, working specifically for the Committee on Defense and Internal Affairs and the Committee on Presidential Affairs. She also gives of her time and talents in Knoxville. This fall, she spent time once a week at Sam E. Hill Preschool working with inner-city children, researching the American school system and producing an essay comparing it with schools in Northern Uganda. McClain is a member of Amnesty International, Rotaract Club, UT Solidarity Movement and Uganda Conflict Action Network, and she serves as the Tennessee chairperson and vice president for the Volunteers for Ethiopian Orphans group.
Jefferson Prize
The 2008 Jefferson Prize is awarded to Michael Handelsman, distinguished professor of humanities in the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literature. Handelsman serves as director of the Latin American Studies Program and is recognized worldwide as an expert on the subject. He created a study-abroad program focusing on social justice and social learning in Ecuador. He also co-developed the global studies initiative at UT and has been instrumental in making that program a success. In addition to receiving an Organization of American States research grant and six Fulbright Scholarships, Handelsman is a Lindsay Young Scholar, a past Alexander Prize winner and a Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award recipient. During his distinguished career, he has published eight books and more than 60 articles.
Macebearer
The 2008 Macebearer is Lee Riedinger, professor of physics, who came to UT in 1971. Since then, he has served as director of the Science Alliance, director of the Joint Institute for Heavy Ion Research, head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and vice chancellor for research. Additionally, no one has done more for the collaboration between Oak Ridge National Laboratory and UT than Riedinger; over the past 25 years, he has initiated or been an integral part of every major joint program between the two organizations. ORNL further benefited from Riedinger’s talents from 2000 to 2006, when he took a leave of absence from the university to serve as deputy director of science and technology and later as associate director for university partnerships.
Riedinger also is a highly accomplished researcher, having published more than 240 refereed works and having held many prestigious positions within the nuclear physics field, including serving as a member of the federal government’s Nuclear Science Advisory Committee. Riedinger’s extraordinary combination of teaching, research and service certainly qualify him for UT’s highest faculty award.
Research and Creative Achievement
Pengcheng Dai, professor of physics, has made significant contributions to the understanding of high temperature super-conductors. Developments in the field were introduced some 20 years ago, but since then, little had been learned. Dai’s work, however, has found several important properties of high temperature super-conductors, and over the past three and a half years, he has published 35 papers on his findings. His nominator calls him “one of the most influential neutron scattering researchers in the world, whose work is eagerly read and cited by all his peers. The Department of Physics has not had a professor who has had so much impact at so young an age.”
Professional Promise in Research and Creative Achievement
Nathan Sanders, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, examines the structure of ecological communities, specifically focusing on ants. His work has resulted in a large number of publications, he has served on two grant advisory panels, and he has significant editorial responsibilities for three journals. But what makes Sanders stand out is his dedication to his students. One of his undergraduate students said it best: “What makes a great researcher goes beyond how many papers in how many prestigious journals, but also how well he reaches his students in the course of his research.”
Aleydis Van de Moortel is an assistant professor of classics in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is currently leading the most important active Bronze Age excavation on the Greek mainland in Mitrou, Greece. During her research, she has found examples of monumental building and street plans that have caused scholars to rethink the entire chronology of this society’s development. Van de Moortel is admired among her peers and is viewed as one of the finest scholars of her generation, cutting-edge in her approach to evaluating archeological material.
L.R. Hesler Award
This year’s award goes to Jeff Kovac, chemistry professor at the university for the past 32 years. Previously, Kovac has been honored with the College of Arts and Sciences Senior Faculty Teaching Award and the college’s Advising Service Award, as well as the Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence in Teaching and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Advising. Kovac teaches “Honors General Chemistry,” which is one of the most challenging first-year courses at UT; but students flock to his class, because they know he is willing to spend the time and energy to help them succeed. His dedication to his students does not stop in the classroom. He serves as director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Chemistry—a role in which he works to make the department a “student-friendly” environment. Additionally, he has been a mainstay with the Phi Beta Kappa honor society for the past 25 years, continuously serving on the member selection committee, and since 1999, serving as chapter president. On top of this, he has served as director of the Tennessee Governor’s School for Science and Engineering since 1994.
Excellence in Teaching
Suzanne Lenhart, professor of mathematics, says her main goal is to help her students understand the “big picture.” Every semester, she adapts her teaching approach based on information from students about their majors and their math and science backgrounds. She also uses that information to include realistic examples wherever possible. In addition to teaching, Lenhart also serves as the director of the Department of Mathematic’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program. She often takes students to conferences with her so they can fully experience the mathematical community. Lenhart says she considers mentoring one of the most important parts of her job and works with high school students in an after-school club, as well as graduate students and post-docs at national meetings.
Malissa Perry is a lecturer in the department of Mathematics who teaches college algebra and basic calculus, among other courses.
Lynn Sacco, assistant professor of history, brings years of law practice and courtroom experience to the classroom. Sacco makes a point to talk to every student; none of them ever sit through a semester feeling invisible. She uses an easy, conversational tone in the classroom and includes audio and visual materials to help give her students a better idea of life in the past. Her excellence in teaching can be wrapped up in her teaching philosophy. She says, “When I see a bored or disinterested face, I remember myself at that age. And I make eye contact and smile at that student, and I work harder.”
Colin Sumrall is a paleontologist and lecturer in the department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Colin specializes in fossils, teaching courses focusing on dinosaur extinction, evolution, ecology and the nature of fossil records. His research centers on understanding the paleobiology of extinct starfish and their allies.
Excellence in Advising
Casey Sams, assistant professor of theater, is a general adviser in the College of Arts and Sciences Advising Center and acts as director of undergraduate students in the theater department. In the past three years, the theater department has restructured the undergraduate major curriculum, advising plan and faculty advising load. Sams has played a leadership role in it all, and has mentored the other faculty members along the way. Her nominator calls her a “warm and generous presence, and a great listener. She has an acute sensitivity to students’ experiences and is able to give students a deeper perspective of their education and life beyond college.”
Outstanding Teacher Awards
Stanton Garner, professor of English at UT for the past 18 years, has said his ultimate goal is to provide an environment where students are “encouraged to take their ideas seriously, a workshop where they can develop their skills of perception, analysis and discovery.” After publishing three scholarly books, with a fourth on the way, he also is acting as one of three editors for the forthcoming “Norton Anthology of Drama”—a project worthy of bragging rights. But Garner’s dedication to his students is obvious when he says the project simply will allow him “new ways to contribute to tomorrow’s classrooms.”
Margaret Gripshover has been an adjunct associate professor of geography at UT since 2001. This is not the first time her excellence in teaching has been honored; she was awarded last year with the Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award. Gripshover’s classroom atmosphere is open, positive, rigorous and, at times, improvisational. During class, students contribute to discussion, ask questions and even make jokes. While this might be distracting in other classes, it makes for a warm and comfortable atmosphere in Gripshover’s class. She makes sure students are engaged and learn that geography can be fascinating—far more than just a string of map quizzes.
Public Service Award
Dr. Susan Riechert, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, has been involved in numerous outreach activities, but the most successful and far-reaching is her “Biology in a Box” project. Biology in a Box is an innovative approach to teaching life sciences within the curriculum at all grade levels. Each biology box contains exercises and associated materials that introduce students to the scientific methods and math skills used to explore and understand nature. In addition to developing the boxes, Riechert holds workshops for teachers to train them in the boxes’ use. Teacher clamor to get a place in Riechert’s workshops, and with good reason: The classrooms where teachers are trained to use the boxes saw anywhere from a 2- to 12-percent increase in standardized test scores. Currently, Biology in a Box has more than 600 boxes in 31 school systems across the state.
LGBT Advocate Award
The LGBT Student Leadership Award is given to Mitchell Ronningen, a College Scholars student who is using the program as a vehicle to train himself for a lifelong career of LGBT advocacy. Ronningen has served as secretary and vice president/political coordinator of UT’s Lambda chapter. He coordinated World AIDS Day on campus, organized the National Day of Silence and served as a member of the National Coming Out Day Committee from 2004 to 2006. He also has served on the SGA’s Diversity Affairs Committee and was instrumental in getting “sexual discrimination” included in UT’s nondiscrimination clause. His nominator sums it up, calling Ronningen “an eloquent, effective and tireless advocate for equal treatment of every individual in our campus community.”
Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement
Aaron Benson, from the College of Arts and Sciences, is a senior in studio art. Benson worked under the direction of Dr. Sally Brogden on his project, “Loss.”
Jeff Tithof, from the College of Arts and Sciences, is a junior in physics. Tithof worked under the direction of Dr. Yuri Kamyshkov on his project “New Covariant Constrains for New Forces of Nature.”
Graduate Teaching Awards
Carrie Eaton, a doctoral candidate in mathematics, has made significant contributions to the department. She created a formal training seminar for graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) and has co-taught the course for the past two years. Last fall, she organized a group of experienced GTAs to mentor first-year GTAs. In addition to this, Eaton created a teaching certificate program, which includes coursework, teaching experience, contribution to the community of teachers and the development of a teaching portfolio. Though she has not been in a class with undergraduates in a while, she has made a significant impact to the quality of teaching by other graduate students.
Jesse Graves is a doctoral student in English and serves as director of composition for the department. He recently designed and developed an innovative 100-level English course focused on music and culture, as well as an upper-level course, “Introduction to Poetry Writing.” His commitment to teaching may be best shown in his outreach work with area schools and K–12 teachers. He served as a co-coordinator of last summer’s Stokely Workshop on the Teaching of Writing, and he works with UT’s Young Writers’ Institute every spring. His nominator says Graves shows “knowledge, preparation and dedication, as well as an ability to engage a wide range of students—both the brightest and the struggling—and an ability to help them learn.”
Extraordinary Campus Leadership and Service
Brittany Nicole Johnson is a senior in political science from Nashville, Tenn. She has represented UT through hours of community service work with the Ronald McDonald House, Habitat for Humanity, Race for the Cure and Project GRAD Knoxville, where she volunteers her time as a tutor at Austin-East High School. She has logged more than 250 hours helping those students with their academics and serving as an outstanding role model. Johnson also is involved within the university. She is vice chair for the Black Cultural Programming Committee, president of Love United Gospel Choir, a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and has served as a resident assistant. Her nominator sums it up by saying that Johnson “not only displays the ‘Volunteer spirit,’ but exemplifies it in a way that contagiously inspires other students that come into contact with her.”
Brandon Morrow is a senior in political science from Cleveland, Tenn. Morrow’s passion for the university has led him to become a truly selfless leader for our school. In addition to his SGA leadership, through which he brought a vocal force for student needs to the state legislature, he also has been involved in numerous other organizations. He has represented the university to thousands of alumni across the country through his work with the Student Alumni Associates, has held leadership positions in Sigma Chi fraternity, and is the only student member of the Undergraduate Council Appeals Board and one of only three student members on the Provost’s Retention Task Force.
Extraordinary Customer Service
As an accounting specialist for the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literature, Beth Cole’s contributions to the management of the department have earned her an extraordinary reputation. She is responsible for processing domestic and international travel, expenditures and transfers of funds—a complex undertaking. But Cole does not stop there. Her motivation, talents and versatility have led her to take on other duties, including assistant to the department head, management of personnel issues and supervision of personnel files, processing of curriculum changes, and training of other office personnel. Cole’s nominator writes that “she does not content herself with simply completing an assignment in a satisfactory manner. She always strives for excellence. I cannot imagine our department’s day-to-day operations without her presence.”
Ready for the World Award
Richard Saudargas, director of the undergraduate psychology program, has led the charge to infuse psychology courses with multicultural content. Because so many first-year students take introductory psychology, he uses the course as a chance to introduce multicultural psychology and underscore the university’s commitment to the Ready for the World initiative. Saudargas was instrumental in developing a set of readings based on multicultural research from China, Korea, Australia, Tanzania, Canada, Bangladesh and other countries. He also spearheaded the department’s first cross-cultural psychology course and its first study-abroad program in Greece.