Penn State announces 2022 University-wide faculty and staff awards

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Each year, Penn State recognizes outstanding faculty and staff with annual awards in teaching and excellence. These awards highlight many of the University's faculty and staff who go above and beyond. 

This year's Faculty and Staff Awards ceremony will be livestreamed at noon Thursday, April 14. 

This year's 2022 faculty and staff awards include:

Undergraduate Faculty Teaching Awards

• The Milton S. Eisenhower Award for Distinguished Teaching — Nate Brown, professor of mathematics in the Eberly College of Science; and Courtney Nagle, associate professor of mathematics education at Penn State Behrend
• The George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching — Carol Evans, lecturer of biology at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus; Lauren Kramer, associate teaching professor of kinesiology in the College of Health and Human Development; Debra Majetic, assistant teaching professor of radiological sciences at Penn State New Kensington; Heather McCune Bruhn, assistant teaching professor of art history in the College of Arts and Architecture; Ashley Patterson, assistant professor of education in the College of Education and Eric Robbins, assistant teaching professor of finance at Penn State Behrend
• The Penn State Teaching Fellows: The Penn State Alumni/Student Award for Excellence in Teaching — Fred Fonseca, associate professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology; Marinda Harrell-Levy, associate professor of human development and family studies at Penn State Brandywine and Jessica Schocker, associate professor in social studies education and women's studies at Penn State Berks
• The Penn State Excellence in Advising Award — Renae McNair, assistant teaching professor of psychology at Penn State Scranton and Karen Sofranko, director of academic services and retention at Penn State Hazleton
• The President’s Award for Excellence in Academic Integration — Dermot Groome, professor of law and Harvey A. Feldman Distinguished Faculty Scholar at Penn State Dickinson Law
• The President’s Award for Engagement with Students — Marissa Nicosia, associate professor of Renaissance literature at Penn State Abington 
• The Undergraduate Program Leadership Award — Sharon Huang, associate professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology

Graduate Faculty Teaching Awards

• The Howard B. Palmer Faculty Mentoring Award — Luis Ayala, William A. Fustos Family Professor of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State
• The Graduate Faculty Teaching Award — Frank Ritter, professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology and director of the Applied Cognitive Science Lab
• The Graduate School Alumni Society Graduate Program Chair Leadership Award — Chris Calkins, teaching professor and executive director of the Master of Health Policy Administration in the College of Health and Human Development

Faculty Scholar Medals

• Ralph Colby, professor of materials science and engineering in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS); Jonathan P. Eburne, professor of comparative literature, English, and French and francophone studies in the College of the Liberal Arts; Homero Gil de Zúñiga, professor in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications; Jonathan Lynch, distinguished professor of plant nutrition in the College of Agricultural Sciences; Carleen Maitland, professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology and Susan Sinnott, professor of materials science and engineering (MatSE) and chemistry and head of the Department of MatSE

Faculty and Staff Achievement Awards

• The McKay Donkin Award — Jeffrey Bardzell, associate dean of undergraduate and graduate studies in the College of Information Sciences and Technology
• The Rosemary Schraer Mentoring Award — Laura Leites, associate research professor of quantitative forest ecology in the College of Agricultural Sciences
• The Award for Administrative Excellence — Chad Long, director of student affairs at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, has been honored with the 2022 Award for Administrative Excellence
• The Staff Excellence Award — The Support Staff Award — Debbie Jozefick, administrative support assistant in the Department of Nutritional Sciences
• The Staff Excellence Award — Megan Gilpin, outreach coordinator for University Libraries
• The Barash Award for Human Service — Renea Nichols, associate teaching professor in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications
• The Dr. James Robinson Equal Opportunity Award — Anthony Mitchell, associate teaching professor of African and African American studies at Penn State Greater Allegheny and cofounder of the Stewart and Jones Scholar Leadership Program
• The W. LaMarr Kopp International Faculty & Staff Achievement Award — Elizabeth Ransom, associate professor and interim director of the School of International Affairs and senior research associate with the Rock Ethics Institute
• The Penn State Award for Faculty Outreach — Melanie D. Hetzel-Riggin, professor of psychology at Penn State Behrend  
• Outreach and Online Education Emerging Faculty Award for Engaged Scholarship — Shaheen Pasha, assistant teaching professor of journalism in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications
• The Shirley Hendrick Award — Brian Cameron, associate dean of the Office of Professional Graduate Programs and Executive Education in the Smeal College of Business
• The Penn State Community Engagement and Scholarship Award — The Coastal Studio Penn State – Portsmouth Rhode Island Resilience Planning project, led by Peter Stempel, associate professor of landscape architecture in the College of Arts and Architecture

For additional information on these University-wide awards, go to http://awardsrecognition.psu.edu/.