Convocation Honors Radford’s Outstanding Faculty

The Radford University Foundation Inc. gives the Outstanding Faculty Awards at Fall Convocation each year to commend exceptional performance by teaching and administrative faculty. Each recipient is honored with a plaque and a monetary prize, and may select a student to receive a scholarship in the honoree’s name. Award candidates are nominated by members of the university community to the Faculty Awards Committee, which makes recommendations to President Kyle.

Michael Dunn, director of new student programs and services, received the Administrative and Professional Excellence Award, which recognizes leadership of programs that significantly promote student learning and growth. In his 26 years of service, Dunn created and maintained a number of initiatives, including University 100, Core 201 and a common summer reading program. Student Andrew Allison received the scholarship in Dunn’s name.

The Anna Lee Stewart Award for Contributions to Faculty Development went to Candice Benjes-Small, associate professor and coordinator of information literacy and outreach for McConnell Library. Since joining the university in 2001, she established outreach programs for the faculty, including brown bag lunches, workshops on the library’s resources and the “What Works” series, which focuses on best teaching practices. The scholarship in her name went to Danielle Shuey.

Dr. Melissa Grim, associate professor in the Department of Exercise, Sport and Health Education, received the Distinguished Faculty Advising Award for teaching faculty who demonstrate excellence in academic advising. She was cited for encouraging students to present their research at conferences and to be involved in the community through participation in health fairs on and off campus. The scholarship in her name went to Laura Janosko.

The recipient of the Distinguished Service Award for exemplary service over time was Dr. Christine Hermann, professor of chemistry. Since coming to Radford in 1985, she authored and co-authored textbooks, served on the editorial board of the Journal of Undergraduate Chemical Research and organized conferences for undergraduate science students, including ChemEd 2009, an international event that drew 500 participants and 150 presentations. Jacob Shelton received the scholarship in her name.

Dr. James Werth, professor of psychology and first director of Radford’s doctoral program in counseling psychology, received the Distinguished Creative Scholar Award for significant contributions to the body of knowledge in academe. Colleagues and students commended him for building bridges between teaching, research and service, and for empowering students to think for themselves. Paige Cordial and Alysia Hoover-Thompson received scholarships in his name.

The Donald N. Dedmon Distinguished Teaching Professor Award for outstanding teaching went to Dr. Christine Small, associate professor of biology. Since joining the Radford faculty in 2005, she has developed and taught 11 biology courses, presented at 35 scientific meetings and coached students to complete summer internships in environmental research. Her work has been included in four peer-reviewed publications. The scholarship in her name went to Kiersten Newtoff.