PULLMAN, Wash. — Numerous staff and faculty members of the College of Liberal Arts at Washington State University were honored April 30 at the annual College Awards Ceremony.
The 2003 winners include Bob Nofsinger, Dean’s Distinguished Contribution Award; James F. Short Jr., Distinguished Friends and Alumni Award; Nicholas Lovrich, Distinguished Faculty Award; Peter Chilson, College Fellow Award; Annette Bednar, Outstanding Staff Award; and Thomas Preston, the William F. Mullen Excellence in Teaching Award.
Nofsinger, a communication professor and organizer of winter and spring commencement ceremonies for the college, was awarded the Dean’s Distinguished Contribution Award. It is presented to a faculty member who has completed a project or activity that has made a singular contribution to the college and community of faculty, staff and students.
“This is an extremely difficult decision for me to make,” Barbara Couture, dean of the WSU College of Liberal Arts, said about naming a winner of the distinguished award. “There are literally a dozen faculty members I can name, top of mind, who are deserving of this award. In addition to his excellent classroom work,” she said, “Professor Nofsinger takes on this tremendous organizational responsibility twice a year and accomplishes the task with great enthusiasm, a sense of humor and respect for his faculty peers and our liberal arts graduates. He truly exemplifies the spirit and intent of this award.” Nofsinger began organizing commencement for the college in 1973.
Short was honored with the Liberal Arts Distinguished Friends and Alumni Award and Nicholas Lovrich, political science faculty member and director of the Division of Governmental Studies and Services, was awarded the Liberal Arts Distinguished Faculty Award.
Chilson, a faculty member in the English department, received the College Fellows Award. The award carries a financial reward to encourage research already in progress. A literary journalist, Chilson is finishing a collection of essays on the confluence of landscape between Africa and the American West and is working on a novel about Africa.
Bednar, a program coordinator for the anthropology department, was named Outstanding Staff Award honoree. “Her value to the department cannot be overstated,” said Bill Andrefsky, the department chair. “Annette Bednar’s contribution has been invaluable to our program,” he said.
Preston, a political science faculty member, was presented the William F. Mullen Excellence in Teaching Award. Marty Mullen, a Student Affairs officer at WSU, created the award in memory of her husband, a WSU professor of political science from 1968 until his death in 1986. The late Mullen was one of the first recipients of the Burlington Northern Excellence in Teaching Award at WSU and was recognized for his commitment to his students both in and out of the classroom.
Marty Mullen was also recognized at the ceremony as an honorary liberal arts retiree. She has served on the Visual, Performing and Literary Arts Committee and has been the creative director behind countless Compton Union Building Gallery, VPLAC and Art á la Carte programs at WSU since 1972. Other retirees recognized include Peter Mehringer, anthropology faculty member, and Nelly Zamora, program coordinator in the English department.
Faculty members stepping down as chairs or directors of their respective departments or schools were recognized with service awards. They include James Schoepflin, School of Music and Theatre Arts; Chris Watts, fine arts; and John Hinson, psychology.
Recognition for years of service to WSU was also celebrated. Those marking 25 years of service include Timothy Kohler, anthropology; Joan Burbick, English; Susan Armitage, history; and Eugene A. Rosa, sociology. Recognized for 30 years of service was Patrick Siler, fine arts. Those with 35 years of service include Douglas Hughes and Paul Brians, both in English, and Roger Schlesinger and Richard Hume for history.
