On April 22, Schreiner faculty were saluted for their accomplishments at the annual Faculty Awards Dinner. Recipients were not informed of their awards until they were announced at the dinner by provost and academic dean Dr. Michael Looney.

Dr. Christopher Cole Starr, assistant professor of religion and philosophy, received the 2005 Margaret Hosler Award for Excellence in Teaching. Schreiner students select the winner of this award based on teaching skills and the lasting impression a professor has had upon them. There is a $5,000 stipend with the award.

“I’m humbled and appreciative that students of mine thought that I should be so honored,” says Starr. “I don’t believe I deserve any special recognition above any of my colleagues, however. I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to meet Dick Hosler and express my appreciation to him for what he has meant to Schreiner. He and his wife provided the means that allow students to recognize faculty in a special way.”

The science department faculty was honored with the Elmore Whitehurst Award for Creative Teaching. Those faculty members (in photo above, left to right) are Dr. Fred Stevens, professor of biology; Dr. Michael Looney, professor of chemistry; Dr. Diana Comuzzie, professor of biology and dean of the Trull School of Science and Mathematics; Dr. Robert Holloway, assistant professor of chemistry; and Jennifer Sadow, assistant professor of chemistry.

Dr. Diana Comuzzie, professor of biology, received the 2005 Advisor of the Year Award, honoring her outstanding contributions to the success of Schreiner students. “I am very humbled by receiving the Advisor of the Year Award,” she says. “I also know that I do not stand alone. Galileo said, ‘If I see farther, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants.’ I, too, feel that if I advise well, it is because I have learned from my esteemed colleagues who may not have received this award this year, but have received it in the past and will receive it in the future.”

Dr. Robert Holloway, assistant professor of chemistry, Benjamin Snyder, assistant professor of exercise science, and David Smith, assistant professor of art, each received the 2005 Award for Excellence in Research, Teaching and Creative Activity. The award was established in 2001 to honor faculty members who excel in creative scholarship during the year. Holloway commented, “I’d like to thank my colleagues and students at Schreiner for being so supportive. I can’t imagine a more hospitable environment in which to work, and without students’ ambitious and inquiring minds no research would go on.”

Dr. William Woods, professor of English, received the Harriet Garrett Award. The honoree of the annual Garrett Award is selected by students in recognition of outstanding teaching. This is the second consecutive year that Woods has received the award. “It is such an honor to be recognized by my students for this award,” says Woods. “I’m constantly amazed by their generosity, their good will. It’s a thrill to be awarded for doing something I love so much—being in the classroom, teaching, with these remarkable students.”

Schreiner student Heather Atteberry ’05 received the 2005 Elmore Whitehurst Award for Excellence in Learning. The award comes with a scholarship provided by the Hatton W. Sumners Foundation for a baccalaureate graduate wishing to continue his or her education at the graduate level. Schreiner president Tim Summerlin presented Atteberry with the award at the 2005 commencement on May 7.

Dr. Bill Sliva observes this Spring’s solar eclipse.

Dr. Sliva was the recipient of the Whitehurst Award in 2004, and has used the grant to fund “Star Parties,” night time astronomical viewings.

Dr. Lydia Kualapai, assistant professor of English presented a lecture, “A Fulbright Education in Mexico,” at Schreiner on Feb. 8 and on March 16 she presented “Photographic Research at the Emily Dickinson Homestead.”

On April 7 she attended the Native American Literature Symposium in Minneapolis MN and presented the paper “Re-Imagining the Monumental Landscape.” In August 2005 her essay , “The Queen Writes Back: Lili‘uokalani’s Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen,” will be published in Studies in American Indian Literature.

Dr. Fred Stevens, professor of biology, was named a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Wisconsin at Parkside.

He was honored at their commencement ceremony in May 2005.