SPOKANE — Winsor Schmidt, chair and professor of Health Policy and Administration (HPA), has been awarded the 2007 Washington State University Spokane Faculty Excellence Award in recognition of his outstanding teaching, research and community service.
Schmidt, who has been with WSU since 1998, is noted by his faculty colleagues as having a real gift for teaching and a ferocious commitment to quality in graduate education.
As a teacher, he has been nominated for and received many campus teaching awards. He demands excellence from his students and they have not let him down—he wrote 101 letters of recommendation for his students in 2006 and currently serves as a thesis or graduate project committee member for 32 master’s degree students.
As a researcher, Schmidt is a recognized leader in public guardianship with a publication record that includes two books, six book chapters, and over 40 journal articles on various aspects of health law. He also served as a founding member of the WSU Center for International Health Services Research and Policy, with a focus on international health law and ethics.
In terms of his service, for the past 15 years, he served on the Board of Directors of the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse. He has also served on the Certified Professional Guardian Board of Directors of the Washington court system since 2003 and recently received a reappointment by Washington Chief Justice Gerry Alexander to a second three-year term.
Schmidt is an academic leader at WSU Spokane. When he arrived at WSU, the graduate program in HPA was unaccredited and attracting mostly part time, local students. Today the program has become a destination program attracting full-time students from all over the world. The Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) voted to reaccredit the WSU HPA program for a six-year term, 50 percent more than the reaccreditation period of four years that competitors such as UC Berkeley attain.
In announcing the Faculty Excellence Award, WSU Spokane chancellor Brian Pitcher said, “Schmidt is truly a world-class faculty member at WSU Spokane, as illustrated by his significant contribution to the campus and community in the areas of teaching, research and service.”
Schmidt holds a bachelor’s degree in Government from Harvard University, a juris doctor in Public Law from American University and a master of laws degree in Mental Health Law from the University of Virginia. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar. Prior to coming to WSU in 1998, Schmidt was a professor of Political Science and director of the Center for Health Services Research at the University of Memphis. He also served as a faculty member in the Department of Public Administration at Florida State University and at Pace University School of Law in White Plains, New York.
Sterling Savings of Spokane sponsors the annual award, which was presented at the WSU Spokane commencement ceremonies. Schmidt received an engraved pewter medallion and a check for $1,000.
