Five faculty members have been named recipients of awards given out each spring by Washington State University in recognition of excellence in academic achievement. They will be honored publicly on Friday, March 24, as part of the annual World Class. Face to Face. Showcase, a day-long celebration of the achievements of faculty and staff.
• Joseph Keim Campbell, associate professor of philosophy, earned the 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.
In the 2004-2005 academic year, Campbell 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 earned Sahlin Faculty Excellence Awards, a trio of honors in recognition of excellence in instruction, in public service, and in research, scholarship and arts. Each will receive $3,000.
• Tom Dickinson, Regents professor of physics and materials science, received the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Instruction for more than 37 years of enriching the lives of students — both in the classroom and in the “face-to-face” relationships he often establishes. 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 Marian E. Smith Award in 2003.
• Richard Dougherty, food science specialist, Food Science and Human Nutrition, received the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Public Service for his work in addressing numerous issues and needs associated with the food industry in the Pacific Northwest, as well as nationally and internationally. 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.
• Michael Skinner, professor of the School of Molecular Biosciences and director of both the Center for Integrated Biotechnology and the Center for Reproductive Biology, received the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Research, Scholarship and Arts.
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.”
• John Reganold, professor of crop and soil sciences, has been selected to deliver the 2006 Distinguished Faculty Address during the March 24 Showcase luncheon. The honor carries a $2,500 award and 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 is one of the premier scientists in the world in sustainable agriculture. Four of his publications in the journals “Science” and “Nature” are 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 in its eighth edition.
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 include the Eminent Faculty and President’s Employee Excellence awards, as well as Regents professors and newly tenured/promoted faculty. More information on Showcase reservations and events can be found at http://www.showcase.wsu.edu.
