$10,000 Usibelli award winners named at UAF

Submitted by Carla Browning
Phone: (907) 474-7778
04/29/04

Recipients of the 2004 Emil Usibelli Distinguished Teaching, Research and Public Service awards have been announced at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Research Professor of Marine Science Stephen Jewett will be recognized for his research contributions, Associate Professor of Paralegal Studies Ed Husted for teaching and Associate Professor of Theatre Kade Mendelowitz for public service. Each of the winners receive a cash award of $10,000. A reception will be held in their honor Monday, May 3 at 4 p.m. in UAF’s Wood Center conference rooms C and D.

Jewett has been a researcher with UAF’s Institute of Marine Science since 1974. He received a bachelor of science degree from John Brown University, then came to UAF where he completed his master’s and doctoral degrees. His research has had a major impact on arctic sciences. His primary interests are in fisheries and invertebrate biology, specifically in environmental assessments, impacts of human activities, and food chain questions relative to subsistence issues in Alaska. He is frequently invited to speak at national and international scientific conferences and workshops, and has published extensively in major journals. His research efforts have brought more than $4 million in grant funding to UAF over the last 10 years.

Jewett’s research on the effects of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill have led to an increased understanding of long-term effects of oil contamination on marine plant and animal communities. Jewett organized UAF’s Scientific Diving Program in 1990 to address the need for a greater understanding of Alaska’s nearshore marine ecosystems. This nationally recognized program offers scientists and students unique opportunities to conduct important marine research.

A new focus for Jewett has been on the possible long-term contamination by radioactive material around the Aleutian island of Amchitka, the site of three nuclear tests in the late ’60s. Jewett will join a team of scientists from UAF, Rutgers and Vanderbilt who will revisit Amchitka this summer to determine if leaking radionuclides are entering the marine food chain.

Under the leadership of Associate Professor and Program Coordinator Ed Husted, the paralegal studies program at UAF has gone from just an idea in 1992 to a thriving, fully accredited American Bar Association certified degree program today. Drawing upon more than 40 years of experience as an attorney and paralegal, Husted has brought real-life experience to the classroom during 11 years of instruction at the Tanana Valley Campus. As the sole regular faculty member, advisor and coordinator for the paralegal studies program, Husted is currently shepherding nearly 70 students through the two-year associate of applied science degree program.

Responding to new technology and the rapidly changing nature of the profession, Husted has developed new courses and often writes his own instructional materials. Since 1989 he has published a weekly summary of opinions of the Alaska Supreme Court, which is subscribed to by more than 400 attorneys, and also provides his students with immediate access to important cases and stimulates invaluable classroom discussion. Due in large part to the recognized excellence of the program, graduates of paralegal studies enjoy an almost 100 percent employment rate. A bulletin board in front of Husted’s office displays numerous business cards of graduates now working in the legal profession.

Husted earned a bachelor’s degree from Minnesota’s Carleton College, a bachelor of laws degree from Indiana University and is a member of the Tanana Valley Bar Association.

Kade Mendelowitz, the recipient of this year’s public service award, has been teaching at UAF since 1992. He is currently the chair of the theatre department and associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts. He received a bachelor of fine arts degree from the State University of New York at New Paltz, and a master of fine arts degree from Temple University in Philadelphia.

Mendelowitz works tirelessly for UAF and the Fairbanks arts community. Far beyond the university’s theatre program, Mendelowitz has designed lighting, staging and special effects for organizations including the Fairbanks Light Opera Theatre (FLOT), Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, Fairbanks Arts Association, Fairbanks Drama Association, NorthStar Ballet, the University of Alaska Museum of the North and the World Ice Art Championships. This winter, he designed the rain wagon that made it possible for performers in Singin’ in the Rain--a joint FLOT/UAF production--to dance in real water on a set that could be moved by just two people.

In addition to the more traditional theater roles, Mendelowitz has developed extensive technical skills in multimedia CD-ROM and DVD production, and website development. He created a sophisticated CD-ROM for the university’s student recruitment efforts, and has developed websites for numerous arts organizations, including the Summer Arts Festival.

"While some choose to be in the limelight, others serve off-stage," said one of Mendelowitz’s nominators. "Their work is no less valuable, just less obvious. Kade is forever ’behind the scenes,’ making others shine the brighter through his unsung assistance."

The awards, representing UAF’s tripartite mission, 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 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.