$10,000 Usibelli Award-Winners Named at UAF

Submitted by Carla Browning
Phone: (907) 474-7778
05/06/03

Recipients of the 2003 Emil Usibelli Distinguished Teaching, Research and Public Service awards have been announced at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Professor of Geophysics Keith Echelmeyer will be recognized for his research contributions; Professor of Geology and Geophysics Rainer Newberry for teaching; and Professor of Music Kathleen Butler-Hopkins for public service. Each of the winners recognized for their achievements and contributions to UAF receive a cash award of $10,000.

Keith Echelmeyer has been a researcher with UAF’s Geophysical Institute for nearly two decades, since receiving his master’s degree and Ph.D. in geophysics from the California Institute of Technology. He is known internationally for his research contributions in glacier flow and mass balance. Using his own aircraft and a laser measuring device, he has mapped more than 100 glaciers, sizing up Alaska’s ice from McCall Glacier in the Brooks Range to Salmon Glacier near Hyder. The results of his research, concluding that Alaska glaciers are melting dramatically, were the subject of an article published in the journal, "Science" in July 2002.

The recipient of this year’s teaching award, Rainer Newberry, has been teaching at UAF since 1982. He received bachelor’s degrees in both geology and chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his master’s and Ph.D from Stanford in geology.

Newberry teaches at all levels in the geology department from introductory classes to graduate courses in geochemistry and economic geology. He is a major organizer of the geology department’s summer field camp, a six-week field course required for students seeking UAF’s bachelor of science degree. Newberry commonly teaches four courses a semester, advises graduate students, and serves as undergraduate advisor for a majority of the more than 40 undergraduate geology and earth science students. Colleagues describe his teaching style as one of engagement with a "hands-on" approach to science. Many former students are now major players with the Alaska Geological Survey and in mining and consulting companies in Alaska.

The recipient of this year’s service award is music professor Kathleen Butler-Hopkins. During her tenure at UAF since 1979, she has served as concertmaster of the the Arctic Chamber Orchestra, the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, the Fairbanks Choral Arts Orchestra and the UAF Opera Workshop Orchestra. She has served as the chamber music coordinator at the Fairbanks Suzuki Institute for the last seven years. Butler-Hopkins has contributed to the success of arts in Alaska and has served musical organizations across the state including the Juneau Jazz and Classics String Workshop and local organizations such as the Fairbanks Light Opera Theatre. In addition to her university teaching assignments, she has coached many prize-winning students through national, regional and local competitions, and to acceptances at prestigious summer music festivals and programs of study.

After completing her education at Trinity College of Music in London, The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, The Juilliard School, Yale University and as a Fulbright Scholar in Vienna, Austria, Butler-Hopkins distinguished herself as a performing artist in the world’s finest performing halls including Carnegie and Merkin Halls in New York. She has toured and performed at conferences at the state, regional and national levels with the Alaska Trio.

The awards, representing the tripartite mission of UAF, are funded annually from a $600,000 endowment established by the Usibelli Coal Mine in 1992 and are considered one of the university’s most prestigious awards. Nominees are evaluated by a committee, which includes members from the faculty, the UAF student body and a member of the UA Foundation Board of Trustees.

CONTACT: Carla Browning, UAF Public Information Officer, at (907) 474-7778 or e-mail: carla.browning@uaf.edu, or Hild Peters, Assistant to the Provost, at (907) 474-5178 or e-mail: fnhmp@uaf.edu.

For more information and to read about previous Usibelli award-winners, visit www.uaf.edu/univrel/awards/faculty/