PULLMAN, Wash. Four faculty members have been named recipients of the 2007-08 Sahlin Faculty Awards. The $3,000 awards are given out each spring by Washington State University in recognition of excellence in academic achievement.
All will be honored publicly March 28 as part of WSU Showcase, which celebrates the achievements of WSU faculty and staff.
Kathy A. Beerman, professor of food science and human nutrition, has received the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Instruction.
At WSU since 1988, she teaches the basic human nutrition course for health majors, as well as three courses in nutrition education and life-cycle nutrition. She is the author of one book and numerous published articles and specializes in research focusing on the effects of isoflavones on health parameters in postmenopausal women.
She has been the primary instructor for more than 10,000 students at WSU and has spent an extraordinary amount of time keeping her lectures up-to-date, delivering them in the most effective and creative ways, and demanding excellence of her students.
Beerman has played a key role in the development and use of multimedia instructional techniques at WSU and has been actively involved in the development of computerized, interactive software for use by students in introductory human nutrition.
David M. Granatstein, area extension agent and sustainable agriculture specialist at the Tree Fruit Research Extension Center in Wenatchee, has received the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Outreach and Engagement.
He began his career at WSU Extension in 1993, when he became the first full-time faculty member attached to the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources. His vision and work are helping move sustainability out of the realm of argument and into constructive dialogue and application.
Granatstein’s program of applied research and outreach has focused on three main themes: building bridges to environmental stewardship, improving soil and water quality, and advancing organic agriculture in Washington. He has created vital networks among farmers, the environmental community, consumers and policy makers. In the process, he has become an internationally recognized expert on sustainable agriculture and organic farming.
Guy H. Palmer, Regents professor in Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, has received the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Research, Scholarship and Arts.
At WSU since 1988, he is known worldwide as a pathologist and investigator in infectious diseases who leads research into how microbial pathogens persist and evade the immune response.
Palmer was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine in 2006. His work has sustained a distinguished publication record and received national and international recognition.
His research is supported by the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Wellcome Trust and has resulted in more than 180 refereed publications, including manuscripts in the journals Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, Infection and Immunity, Molecular Microbiology, Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Science.
Kenneth A. Struckmeyer, associate professor of horticulture and landscape architecture and university ombudsman, received the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Leadership.
At WSU since 1971, he helped to establish the men’s crew team soon after his arrival, and was named the first Pac-10 coach of the year in crew.
Struckmeyer’s service to WSU has included five terms as ombudsman and two as chair of the Faculty Senate (2005-06 and 2007-08). He helped establish the Grade Appeal Board, an unbiased venue and means for students to challenge grades and formalize grievances.
In addition, Gregory W. Yasinitsky, WSU Meyer Distinguished Professor of Music, has earned the 2007 Marian E. Smith Faculty Achievement Award. He will also deliver WSU’s 2008 Distinguished Faculty Address during the March 28 Showcase luncheon. For more information on Yasinitsky’s awards, see https://www.wsunews.wsu.edu/detail.asp?StoryID=7022.
Reservations for Showcase events, including the Celebrating Excellence recognition banquet and the Distinguished Faculty Address luncheon, may be made beginning, Feb. 13, on the Showcase Web site at www.showcase.wsu.edu.
Kathy A. Beerman
David M. Granatstein
Guy H. Palmer
Kenneth A. Struckmeyer
