Fall/Winter 2003-04
Students:
Amanda Allen (sociology), Marianna Bayevsky (psychology), Eric Christopher (English), Kimberly Hinton (Spanish studies), and Lizbeth Wawrzonek (dance and English literature) each received the summer 2003 CLA Undergraduate Internship Grant.
The fall grant went to Matthew Bowlby (global studies and Spanish/ Portuguese studies), Robert Johnstone (public relations), Abigail Stadler (psychology), Hilary Whitman (sociology), and Heather Wooten (urban studies).
CLA's most prestigious scholarship, the Selmer Birkelo Scholarship, went to: Xiaochaun Zhao (global studies), Daniel Weiske (urban studies), Sarah Stein (cultural studies & comparative literature), Katherine Rainey (history), Katherine Holbrook (English/ women's studies), Michelle Collins (Spanish/Portuguese studies), Elizabeth Dunbar (journalism/ political science), Julia Curran (geography), Matthew Lorig (Spanish studies/ geography), Diana Siwicka (French studies), Erica Warren (art history), Ryan Black (Asian languages & literature), Justin Knoepfler (philosophy), Sloan Dawson (history/political science), and Fatema Abdul Rasul (political science/ journalism).
Leila Babaeva (political science), Julie Cook (journalism), Laura Foltin (English), Jed Ipsen (political science), Danny Khotsombath (Spanish studies), Joshua LaBau (history/English), Gladys Mambo (political science), Sridya Rao (political science/African American studies), Daniel Weiske (urban studies), and Eunice Yburan (political science) were selected for Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.
Francisco J. Granados received the 2003 Graduate Student Paper Award of the American Sociological Association Economic Sociology Section for his article "Intertwined Cultural and Relational Environments of Organizations."
Suzanne Rivecca (M.F.A. student, creative writing) won the Chicago Literary Award for her story "Life-Drawing."
Serena King (Ph.D.student, clinical psych) received the Enoch Gordis Research Award from the Research Society on Alcoholism and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Two School of Journalism and Mass Communication student projects won Emmy awards from the Upper Midwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Lost Faces," produced by Nina Bouphasavanh, Axel Gumbel, Anthony Maggio, and Linda Shudlick, won in the News and Information (college) category.
"The Sandwich Generation," produced by Audra Lynette Harpel, won in the Non-News/Entertainment (college) category.
Awards and Accolades
Faculty:
Kirt Wilson (communication studies) received the 2003 James A. Winans-Herbert A. Wichelns Memorial Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Rhetoric and Public Address.
Jeylan Mortimer (sociology) is the 2003-04 recipient of the CLA Dean's Medal. This honor, funded by an anonymous private donor, recognizes faculty excellence in scholarship and/or creative activity. (See story)
Frederick Asher (art history) received the Outstanding and Inspiring Leadership Award from the Consulate General of India for his leadership in promoting stronger relations between India and the United States.
Lance Brockman (theatre arts and dance) and Leonard Polakiewicz (linguistics, ESL) received the 2003 President's Award for Outstanding Service.
Steve Ruggles (professor of history and director, Minnesota Population Center) received the Population Association of America's Robert J. Lapham Award for his contributions to population research, applications of demographic knowledge to improve the human condition, and service to the profession.
Paul Sackett (psychology) received the Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award from the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology for his contributions to the study of human behavior in the workplace.
Mary Vavrus (communication studies) received the National Communication Association Diamond Anniversary Book Award for her book Postfeminist News: Political Women in Media Culture.
Chin-Chuan Lee (journalism) won the top paper award from this year's International Communication Association, Intercultural and Development Division.
Ray Gonzalez (English) received the Texas Institute of Letters Award for best book of non-fiction for his book of essays, The Underground Heart (University of Arizona Press).
Dara Strolovich (political science) received an award from the American Political Science Association for her dissertation, "Closer to a Pluralist Heaven? Women's, Racial and Economic Justice Advocacy Groups and the Politics of Representation."
Ben Munson (communication disorders) won the Students' Choice Award of the CLA Student Board, which recognizes a professor who is a knowledgeable, effective, and creative teacher.
Peggy Nelson (communication disorders) received the 2002 Editor's Award from the American Journal of Audiology for her article "Background Noise Levels and Reverberation Times in Unoccupied Classrooms: Predictions and Measurements."
Phyllis Moen (Presidential McKnight Professor of Sociology) has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in recognition of her "germinal and significant contributions to the sociology of family and to the sociology of aging, as well as for service to the AAAS."
Regents' Professor Emeritus John Turner (Ph.D. '50, history) received the University's Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award. As a history professor, Turner received the Horace T. Morse-Amoco Teaching Award for Undergraduate Education. He has made significant contributions in service to the University, his discipline, and the larger community.
Michal Kobialka (theatre arts and dance) and Elaine Tyler May (American studies) each were awarded the Fesler-Lampert Chair in Humanities for 2003-04.
Notable newcomers
Paulina Raento, University of Helsinki, is the David and Nancy Speer Visiting Professor in Finnish Studies. Raento is an accomplished researcher and teacher in political, cultural, and regional geography, and the geography of leisure and recreation.
Fiction writer Charles Baxter will join the Creative Writing faculty spring 2004 as the Edelstein-Keller Distinguished Chair in Creative Writing. Baxter is the author of numerous short-story collections and novels, including the best-selling Feast of Love, soon to be a film. His next novel, Saul and Patsy, is due out in fall 2003.
Alumni/ae:
Mary Winstead (M.F.A. '00) received the 2003 Minnesota Book Award for nonfiction for her book Back to the Mississippi.
Norah Labiner (M.A. '95) received the 2003 Minnesota Book Award for Fiction for her novel Miniatures (Coffee House Press, 2002). Labiner also is the author of Our Sometime Sister (Coffee House Press, 1998).
Yuko Taniguchi (M.F.A. '01) received the Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship for Poetry. Coffeehouse Press will publish Yuko's first book of poetry, Foreign Wife Elegy, in February 2004.
James Gallant (M.A. '65, English) has published his first book, The Big Bust at Tyrone's Rooming House/A Novel of Atlanta. Gallant has twice made the "Distinguished 100" list in The Best American Short Stories.
Monica Nassif (English '83), founder of the Caldrea Co. (maker of high-end household cleaners), was named one of the top entrepreneurs in Minnesota and the Dakotas at a ceremony sponsored by the Twin Cities office of Ernst & Young.
Fanny Cheung (Ph.D. '75, psychology), Bon Ho Koo (Ph.D. '67, economics), and Sylvia Tamale (Ph.D. '97, sociology) received the University's Distinguished Leadership Award for Internationals.
Cheung, professor of psychology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, led in the development of the Cross-Cultural (Chinese) Personality Assessment Inventory and was founding chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission of the Hong Kong Government. Her award recognizes her influential leadership in mental health and gender studies in Hong Kong and Asia.
Koo is chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Ulsan in Korea and is distinguished professor at the Korean Development Institute, an economic development think tank. He has received the Mogryon and the Moran medals, the highest honors that can be conferred upon a civilian in Korea. The University award recognizes his outstanding contributions to the economic and social development of Korea.
Tamale, a professor at Makerere University, Uganda, is an articulate spokesperson for Ugandan women and a prominent human rights advocate. She has been in the forefront of legislative efforts to establish women's rights in the areas of land ownership and family relations. The award recognizes her "courageous leadership on some of the most pressing social issues for women in the region."