First Five 2006 Academic Showcase Faculty Award Winners Announced

PULLMAN, Wash. – Five faculty members were named recipients this week of awards given out each spring by Washington State University in recognition of excellence in academic achievement.

All five will be honored publicly March 24 at the Celebrating Excellence recognition banquet, a feature of the annual WSU World Class Face to Face Showcase, which celebrates the achievements of WSU faculty and staff.

Joseph Campbell, associate professor of philosophy, was selected as recipient of the 2005-06 Marian E. Smith Faculty Achievement Award. The $5,000 award recognizes unusually significant and meritorious achievement in teaching during the academic year, including successful and innovative performance in instruction.

Campbell, who joined the WSU faculty in 2002, received the award for his exceptional accomplishment in undergraduate instruction. In the 2004-2005 academic year, he conducted a seminar in which students interacted with internationally-known philosophers whose work they were studying. The students met the philosophers at the Inland Northwest Philosophy Conference hosted by WSU and the University of Idaho.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University, Campbell earned advanced degrees in philosophy from the University of Arizona. He has an impressive record of publication, has been the principal investigator on more than a dozen grants, and has been invited to make many professional presentations at national and international conferences on philosophy.

Three faculty members were named recipients of 2005-06 Sahlin Faculty Excellence Awards, a trio of individual honors given out annually in recognition of excellence in areas of instruction, public service, and in research, scholarship and the arts. Each will receive a $3,000 award.

Tom Dickinson, regents professor of physics and materials science, received the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Instruction for more than 37 years of tireless effort to enrich the lives of students – both in the classroom and in the “face-to-face” relationships he so often establishes. Throughout his career, Dickinson has offered first-class instruction with innovative techniques, always delivered with the vigor and enthusiasm of a truly dedicated teacher. He has invited many undergraduate students to work with him in his lab, and many of these former students are now researchers in some of the nation’s premier research universities.

A member of the WSU faculty since 1968, Dickinson was awarded the Thomas Lutz Teaching Award in the College of Science in 2001. He was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society and named the Paul A. Anderson Professor of Physics in 2002. In 2003 he was the recipient of the Marian E. Smith Award.

Richard Dougherty, food science specialist at the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, was selected for the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Public Service, which recognizes his outstanding performance toward fulfilling WSU’s public service mission and honors exceptional accomplishments in extending instruction, research and supportive resources to a broader public.

Dougherty was selected for the award as the result of his work in addressing numerous issues and needs associated with the food industry in the Pacific Northwest, as well as nationally and internationally. The extensive scope and excellence of the food science extension program, and his contributions to it, have been widely recognized publicly. Representatives of the Northwest Food Processors Association have praised Dougherty for his leadership of the Food Safety and Sanitation Conference, which trains about 300 people each year, and serves as an educational model nationally.

Dougherty joined the WSU faculty in 1990 as an extension food specialist. His work combines good science with good manufacturing guidance, which benefits both public health programs and food processing firms alike. His activities promote the safety of our food supply, the profitability of the food industry and the economic vitality of Washington’s communities.

Michael Skinner, professor of the School of Molecular Biosciences and director of the Center for Integrated Biotechnology and the Center for Reproductive Biology, received the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Research, Scholarship and Arts. The honor recognizes outstanding accomplishments in research, scholarship or arts, and is awarded for major research or a creative contribution or series of contributions completed at WSU.

Perhaps the greatest research accomplishment of the Skinner laboratory was the recent demonstration that a common fungicide causes reproductive and birth defects in offspring for many generations when administered to pregnant female rats. He was able to show that the defects were caused by inherited epigenetic, rather than by genetic changes. This revolutionary discovery was published in “Science” and has led to many invitations to speak and numerous media interviews for Skinner, who has stimulated an entire field of research in the area of environmental toxins.

The university also announced that John Reganold, professor of crop and soil sciences, has been selected to deliver the 2006 Distinguished Faculty Address. The honor recognizes the work of a faculty member whose achievements in research, scholarship and teaching place that person in the front ranks of his or her discipline. Reganold will deliver the address at the upcoming Academic Showcase Luncheon. The honor carries with it a $2,500 award.

Reganold is one of the premier scientists in the world in sustainable agriculture. Four of his publications in the journals “Science” and “Nature” are now considered classics. He has published what may be the seminal article on sustainable agriculture in “Scientific American” and has authored many other refereed journal articles and book chapters in his area of inquiry. His widely used textbook, “Natural Resource Conservation: Management for a Sustainable Future,” is now in its eighth edition.  In addition, Reganold’s research in sustainable agriculture has been featured in hundreds of newspapers, several science magazines, and on many radio and TV programs. He has given more than 150 invited presentations all over the world, and has been the principal investigator or research collaborator on more than $3.3 million worth of grants.

Honors yet to be announced this year include the President’s Employee Excellence and Eminent Faculty awards, as well as Regents Professors and newly tenured/promoted faculty. More information on Academic Showcase events can be found at http://www.showcase.wsu.edu.