Faculty honored for excellence in scholarship, community engagement

Four members of the University of Delaware faculty have been recognized for outstanding work through two new awards selected by the Faculty Senate’s Committee on Student and Faculty Honors.

The honors were announced at the May 13 Faculty Senate meeting.

The Mid-Career Faculty Excellence in Scholarship Award, established last year, highlights UD’s commitment to excellence in research, scholarship and creative endeavors, and the Faculty Excellence in Scholarly Community Engagement Award, presented for the first time this year, is given to a faculty member who has displayed excellence in mutually beneficial, scholarly engaged teaching, research/creative activities and/or service.

This year’s Mid-Career Faculty Excellence in Scholarship Award went to David Burris, associate professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, and Elizabeth Farley-Ripple, associate professor in the School of Education and director of the Partnership for Public Education. They each will receive $5,000, their photos will be displayed in Morris Library for five years, and their names will be inscribed on bricks in Mentors’ Circle.

The inaugural Faculty Excellence in Scholarly Community Engagement Awards were presented to Roberta Golinkoff, Unidel H. Rodney Sharp Chair in the School of Education, and April Veness, associate professor of geography and of Latin American and Iberian studies. They each receive $5,000 to be shared with an identified community partner, their photos will displayed in Morris Library for five years, and their names will be inscribed on bricks in Mentors’ Circle. In addition, the winning partnerships also will represents UD in the competition for the regional W. K. Kellogg Foundation Community Engagement Scholarship Awards and the national C. Peter Magrath Community Engagement Scholarship Award, which are among the most prestigious recognitions of exemplary engaged scholarship in the United States. They also will present brief lectures describing their work and its impact during an annual symposium.

Comments from the honored faculty members are printed below:

David Burris: Receiving the 2019 Mid-Career Faculty Excellence in Scholarship Award is an indescribable honor. Thank you to the Faculty Senate and the Committee on Student and Faculty Honors for making this award possible. I owe particular thanks to the creativity and hard work of my current and past research mentees; intellectual enrichment from my colleagues; an enthusiastic endorsement from my department chair, Ajay Prasad; and the freedom and resources I have been given by the University, the College of Engineering, and the Mechanical Engineering department to do what I love doing.

Elizabeth Farley-Ripple: I’m honored and humbled by this recognition, not only personally, but on behalf of all of my amazing colleagues across campus who also identify as scholars in service of our schools and communities. I’m grateful to be part of an institution that values not only faculty’s academic contribution but also efforts to make our work matter more broadly.

Roberta Golinkoff: It is amazingly gratifying to be recognized for my attempts to improve the lives of children and families around the world! The University has been a tremendous support for my efforts.

April Veness: I am honored and delighted to receive this inaugural award for the community engagement work I’ve done at UD over the past 30 years. It would not have been possible without the support of many people. So, I send my heartfelt thanks to the amazing students who left the classroom and ventured into the field with me—whether the field was Newark, where we worked with local officials and community groups on town-gown issues; or Sussex County, where we worked with agencies and Latino families on immigrant-integration issues; or the western highlands of Guatemala, where we worked with professional engineers and villagers to build a bridge. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the community partners who guided and befriended us on our forays into the real world. Finally, I thank my colleagues at UD for channeling funds and encouragement my direction when they were most needed.

Article by UDaily staff

Photos by Kathy Atkinson