University honors 2014 Usibelli awards recipients
May 7, 2014
Marmian Grimes
907-474-7902
5/7/14
The University of Alaska Fairbanks has announced recipients of the 2014 Emil Usibelli Distinguished Teaching, Research and Service Awards.
Joseph Thompson, associate professor of philosophy and humanities in the College of Liberal Arts, received the teaching award; Roger Ruess, professor of biology at the UAF Institute of Arctic Biology and College of Natural Science and Mathematics, received the research award; and Elena Sparrow, research professor and education outreach director at the International Arctic Research Center, received the service award. All three were honored at a reception Tuesday at the UA Museum of the North.
Thompson joined the university in 1999 and has taught a wide range of undergraduate courses, from introductory philosophy to core humanities classes to advanced senior thesis. His student evaluations have been consistently stellar.
“I often ask students about their favorite instructors and his name heads the list,” said College of Liberal Arts Dean Todd Sherman. “He is a hard-working and successful teacher who challenges his students to think critically and to be able to communicate their ideas through the spoken and written word.”
Thompson is particularly adept at engaging students from a wide variety of disciplines in the core curriculum courses he teaches, according to Jonathan Rosenberg, a political science professor, past Usibelli Award winner and one of Thompson’s nominators. One example is his “Unity in the Arts” course.
“Because it is a core requirement, many students come to the class uninterested and skeptical, to say the least,” Rosenberg said. “But unlike many faculty who dread the core, Dr. Thompson brings to the classroom unparalleled enthusiasm and dedication. … In bringing the core curriculum to life, Dr. Thompson makes a singular contribution to the UAF mission.”
Thompson’s dedication to his students is evident in the way he writes about his work as a teacher. His words relay an obvious enjoyment in working with students and honing his courses and teaching techniques to help them learn.
“I have given the most time and effort to instructional activities, since this was where priorities were most immediate, where I could make the greatest impact and most directly benefit students,” he said. “It is also the part of my job that I genuinely love, and I love the subjects I teach.”
Thompson has three philosophy degrees: a bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University and a master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Ruess joined the faculty at UAF in 1989, after postdoctoral and faculty positions at Syracuse University and two years as a postdoctoral fellow with the National Science Foundation.
Ruess is an ecologist whose work, which focuses on the boreal forest, has been funded with almost continuous support from the National Science Foundation.
“research specializes on what controls growth and diversity of plants and trees in highly seasonal environments, especially the roles of nutrient availability, plant-fungal and plant-animal interactions, and disturbance from floods, fire and herbivory,” said Institute of Arctic Biology Director Brian Barnes. “Dr. Ruess’ research is highly relevant to understanding how the Alaskan environment is shaped, and how it may change under different climate change future scenarios.”
His colleagues Jeremy Jones and Diane Wagner note that in addition to his individual research accomplishments, one of Ruess’ greatest legacies is his role as a mentor to graduate students and new faculty members, and his leadership of large collaborative research programs, including a decade with the Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research Program. For the past three years, he has served as principal investigator for the project, which involves approximately 20 researchers from UAF and other institutions.
These broad strengths as a researcher and leader are what make Ruess a standout, said Paul Layer, dean of the College of Natural Science and Mathematics.
“When I look at past Usibelli award recipients, I see some faculty who are strong individual researchers and others who have used their research expertise to build strong interdisciplinary groups,” Layer said. “Dr. Ruess is one of those rare faculty members who have been able to excel in both of these aspects of research while fulfilling the duties expected of a tripartite faculty member.”
Ruess earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the University of California, Irvine and a doctorate in biology from the University of North Dakota.
Sparrow has served the university since 1985 and has become internationally recognized for her work to share science with elementary and secondary school students.
Her work with the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment program, also known as GLOBE, has helped engage scores of students and teachers as citizen scientists. GLOBE is an international science and environmental education program in which students and teachers gather and analyze environmental data.
From classroom visits to community volunteerism to workshops for colleagues, both at UAF and throughout the international scientific community, Sparrow’s nominators consistently note the depth and breadth of her contributions to both science and education.
“Through her dedicated and effective methods of providing teachers with the information and tools needed to teach about the Alaskan environment, she has literally influenced tens of thousands of students,” said IARC Director Larry Hinzman. “She is an inspiration to all who meet her and she has absolutely made the world a better place through her dedicated efforts to educate students and the general public throughout the world.”
Multiple people wrote in support of Sparrow’s nomination for the award, several of them noting her strong influence on emerging young scientists through her work as a judge at school- and community-level science fairs.
One student, who is nearing the completion of her doctoral work at UAF, first met Sparrow in kindergarten as a participant and award winner at the Interior Alaska Science Fair.
“Dr. Elena Sparrow stood in front of the crowd to give the Alaska Women in Science awards. She called my name. I shook Dr. Sparrow’s hand and felt like a real scientist,” said the student, Katie Villano Spellman. “I, too, hope to be a scientist who commits her career to building relationships between students, teachers and scientists and I look to Elena’s impressive public service as a model on how to do this with sincerity and passion.”
Sparrow holds a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from the University of the Philippines, a master’s degree in soil microbiology from Cornell University and a doctorate in agronomy-soil microbiology from Colorado State University.
The Emil Usibelli Distinguished Teaching, Research and Service Awards are considered one of the university’s most prestigious awards. They represent UAF’s tripartite mission and are funded annually from a $600,000 endowment established by Usibelli Coal Mine in 1992.
Each year, a committee that includes members from the faculty, the student body and a member of the UA Foundation Board of Trustees evaluates the nominees. Each of the winners receives a cash award of $10,000.
NOTE TO EDITORS: A photo of the recipients is available online at www.uafcornerstone.net/usibelli2014.
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