College of Sciences Awards
Dr. Peter Panousis, the Dean of the College of Sciences, recently awarded graduate student, faculty, and staff Excellence Award winners for contributions to their respective fields in an annual celebratory event that was held in the college.
There was something extra to celebrate this year, however, as we learned that each graduate student awardee in the college also won at the university level! A first for the College of Sciences to sweep the Graduate Excellence Awards process at UCF!
Each of the 2011 College of Sciences Excellence Award winners were selected by college faculty committees based on criteria that demonstrate their excellence such as publications in refereed journals, awards and recognitions from professional organizations, praise from faculty members and other colleagues in the field, and evaluations of teaching.
College of Sciences graduate student winners were selected in the categories of Outstanding Dissertation, Outstanding Master’s Thesis, Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching, and Excellence by a Graduate Teaching Assistant. They were honored with a $250 prize, recognition on the COS Wall of Fame, nomination to the university-level award, and a certificate of recognition that celebrates their achievements.
Kathryn Windes, a graduate of the Biology M.S. program, was the COS awardee for Outstanding Master’s Thesis. Windes’ thesis was a groundbreaking effort in her field as she developed and evaluated a new approach – treefrog shelters – to monitor treetop-living animals that otherwise would be inaccessible.
Carlos Toro, a graduate of the Chemistry Ph.D. program, was the COS awardee for Outstanding Dissertation for his work titled “Polarization Dependent Two-Photon Absorption Properties of Chiral Molecules.”
Timothy Colyer, of the Sociology Ph.D. program, was selected for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching. His contributions include having taught Introduction to Sociology, Urban Sociology, Criminology, and Social Power and Inequality.
Aaron Muth, of the Chemistry Ph.D. program, was awarded Excellence by Graduate Teaching Assistant by COS faculty. Muth has taught Biology I, Chemistry Fundamentals I and its lab in addition to Organic Lab Techniques I.
College of Sciences faculty and staff winners were selected in the categories of Excellence in Research, Excellence in Graduate Teaching, Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (5 winners selected), Excellence in Professional Service, and Excellence in Professional Academic Advising. Awardees in the first three categories were honored with a $2,000 prize, nomination to the university-level award, and a certificate of recognition that celebrates their achievements. The latter two were nominated for the university-level award, and a certificate of recognition.
Dr. Peter Hancock from Psychology was the winner of the Excellence in Research Award for his work that includes, but is not limited to, his 18 books, 600 articles, book chapters and proceedings, and over $16 million in research funding.
Dr. Kimberly Renk from Psychology was the winner of the Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award for her work with the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program, and an Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award for her work in the Understanding Children and Families Lab.
Dr. Tim Brown from the Nicholson School of Communication was an Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching award winner for his courses in Electronic Journalism and his work in new media and society.
Dr. Ann Neville Miller of the Nicholson School of Communication also won an Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching award from the College of Sciences. She has contributed to the School by teaching courses in Health Communication, Interpersonal Communication, Intercultural Communication, Persuasion, and Communication and Attitudes.
Dr. Rani Vajravelu from Biology won a college Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award for creative classroom strategies of modeling, and her dedication to representing UCF via live webcasts from India in an interdisciplinary project developed together with Digital Media called Interactive India: Harmony Between Plants and People.
Dr. Alisha Janowsky from Psychology won a COS Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award for her exemplary teaching and service. She is the faculty advisor to the UCF Psychological Society and teaches the highest number of different undergraduate courses in the department. Dr. Janowsky also won the UCF award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
Mr. Boyd Lindsley of the Nicholson School of Communication was the college nominee for the UCF award for Excellence in Professional Service. His invaluable efforts to streamline operations within the NSOC were noteworthy among COS faculty.
Ms. Rebecca Morales from the Nicholson School of Communication was the college nominee for the UCF award for Excellence in Professional Academic Advising. She created the Nicholson Academic Student Services Center which no serves approximately 2,500 majors, minors, and pending students with an average of 7,000 student contacts each semester.
Congratulations to all of our college and university winners!