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Faculty of the Year Award Winners
Each year the Alumni Association recognizes one distinguished faculty member who exemplifies a commitment
to scholarship, teaching, and service. Nominations are encouraged from students, alumni, and
the campus community.
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Harold Geller, MAIS '92, Certificate Community College Education '02 and DA community College Education '05
After almost 16 years of teaching in Mason’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, Harold Geller, this spring, finally received a scouting merit badge in astronomy. It was given to him by a group of boy scouts who came to the new campus observatory to view the night skies. They are just one of many community groups with whom Geller has shared his knowledge through observing sessions and astronomy lectures. His office is decorated with hand-drawn thank-you notes from local schoolchildren.
Geller joined Mason as an adjunct faculty member in 1992 after completing his master’s degree. He became a full-time faculty member in 2000 and is currently the associate chair of the department.
Geller is a codesigner of the first astrobiology course taught at Mason, and recently his text for faculty interested in teaching the course, Astrobiology: The Integrated Science Curriculum, was published. He also developed Astronomy for Teachers, a graduate course for educators.
In addition, Geller is the keeper of Mason’s observatory archives and history. He designed, developed, and raised funds for the construction of the university’s new observatory (its third, he will remind you), which will house a 32-inch Ritchey Chrétien telescope that is being custom-built for the university.
“His passion for astronomy is topped only by his extreme love for teaching about it,” says Tere Linehan, assistant dean in the College of Science. |
2007 |
Roger Wilkins, LHD '04 |
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Roger Wilkins, a Robinson Professor of History and American Culture, came to Mason with broad experience in public affairs. During the Johnson administration, Wilkins served as an assistant attorney general. In a distinguished journalism career, he has written for both the New York Times and the Washington Post, and he was associate editor of the Washington Star. While on the editorial page staff of the Washington Post, he shared a Pulitzer Prize in 1972 for Watergate coverage with Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, and Herb Block (Herblock). His highly acclaimed autobiography, A Man's Life (1982), was reprinted in 1991, and he was co-editor with Fred Harris of Quiet Riots in 1988. His book Jefferson's Pillow: The Founding Fathers and the Dilemma of Black Patriotism, published in 2001, won the 2002 New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Book Award for Adult Nonfiction. His public service activities include past chair of the Board of Trustees of the Africa-America Institute and membership on the board of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He is publisher of NAACP's journal Crisis and has served on the Board of Trustees of the University of the District of Columbia and on the District of Columbia Board of Education. He is also a past chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board. Wilkins holds a law degree from the University of Michigan. |
2006 |
Rick Davis, DFA |
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Rick Davis, DFA, is professor of theater, associate dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, and artistic director of the Center for the Arts, including the Theater of the First Amendment. In 1997, he received the university's Teaching Excellence Award. His teaching is described as supporting and encouraging. He inspires students to do their very best and, as one student stated, "His impact is immediately noticeable on our growing thought processes as arts professionals." Before coming to Mason in 1991, he was dramaturg and associate artistic director at Baltimore's Center Stage and had taught at Washington College, Johns Hopkins University, and Goucher College. A member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Davis has directed in professional theater and opera across the country and is an active translator and essayist. His translations of Ibsen (with Brian Johnston) have performed in leading regional theaters such as Berkeley Rep, Center Stage, Alliance Theatre, and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and his translations of Calderon de la Barca have resulted in both publication and production. He received his BA in theater and dramatics summa cum laude from Lawrence University in 1980 and his MFA in 1983 and DFA in 2003 in dramaturgy, dramatic literature, and criticism from Yale School of Drama. |
2005 |
Cynthia M. Lont
Professor of Communication |
2004 |
James B. Young, PhD Education '03
Instructor, Reference & Instructional Service Librarian |
2003 |
Doris A. Bitler
Associate Dean, Undergraduate Academic Affairs |
2002 |
Lloyd E. Duck
Associate Professor of Education |
2001 |
Don E. Kash
John T. Hazel, Sr. and Ruth D. Hazel Professor of Public Policy |
2000 |
Stuart S. Malawer
Distinguished Service Professor of Law and International Trade |
1999 |
Karen Oates
Professor of Interdisciplinary and Integrative Studies |
1998 |
Toni-Michelle Travis
Associate Professor of Public & International Affairs |
1997 |
Anthony Maiello
Professor of Music |
1996 |
Robert Hawkes
Assistant Professor of History and Art History |
1995 |
Kenneth A. Kovach
Professor of Management |
1994 |
Roberta M. Conti
College of Health and Human Services |
1993 |
Bruce B. Manchester
Professor of Communication |
1992 |
Kevin Avruch
Professor of Conflict Resolution and Anthropology |
1991 |
Henry J. Bindel, Jr.
Professor of Education |
1990 |
Mary C. Silva
Professor of Nursing |
1989 |
Sheryl A. Friedley
Professor of Communication |
1988 |
Peter Klappert
Professor of English |
1987 |
Brack Brown
Professor of Public and International Affairs |
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Lloyd de Boer
Dean, School of Business Administration |
1986 |
Hale N. Tongren
Professor of Marketing |
1985 |
Walter E. Williams
Professor of Economics |
1984 |
Warren D. Decker
Professor of Communication |
1983 |
Michael R. Kelley
Professor of Telecommunications |
1982 |
Carol J. Sears
Associate Professor of Education |
1981 |
Kenneth A. Kovach
Professor of Management |
1980 |
Kitty P. Smith
Associate Professor of Nursing and Health Science |
1979 |
Michael G. Emsley
Professor of Biology |
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Bruce B. Manchester
Professor of Communication |
1978 |
John A. Oppelt
Mathematics |
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