March 25, 2002
Kevin P. Furlong, professor of geosciences, and H. Joseph Sommer, III, professor of mechanical engineering, will receive the Milton S. Eisenhower Award for Distinguished Teaching.
The Milton S. Eisenhower Award for Distinguished Teaching recognizes outstanding efforts among tenured faculty who have been employed full time for at least five years with undergraduate teaching as a major portion of their duties. Milton S. Eisenhower, brother of former U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower, served as president of Penn State from 1950 to 1956.
Furlong has been an active proponent of science education reform both within his department as well as nationally, and has become known for his creative teaching efforts. His success in the classroom seems to begin with his philosophy that science – specifically the application of geoscience research to societal issues – is not the restricted domain of specialists, but rather can and must be incorporated into the common knowledge of leaders and future decision-makers.
Furlong currently serves as director of the College and Earth and Mineral Science’s EMS Environment Institute – Natural Hazards Center and is associate head of the department of geosciences for graduate education and research. In his professional career, he has authored more than 70 papers in refereed literature, given 74 invited lectures at major institutions worldwide, and presented 180 abstracts at national and international meetings.
Even his free time is often spent educating. During spring break, Furlong led 14 Penn State undergraduates to New Zealand to study earthquakes, faulting, landslides, volcanic eruptions and other geologic phenomena.
Since his arrival at Penn State in 1984, Furlong has won several awards for his research and teaching, including both the Wilson Outstanding Research Award and Wilson Outstanding Teaching Award in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Most recently in 2000, he received the college’s Mitchell Award for Innovative Teaching.
Sommer, known by his peers to give freely of his time to serve as a role model for students and colleagues, inspires others to learn by first modeling, then guiding with his characteristic patience, inquisitiveness, energy, and comprehensive knowledge.
Currently professor-in-charge of graduate programs for the department of mechanical and nuclear engineering, Sommer joined the Penn State faculty in 1980. In 1990, he co-founded ECSEL, a coalition of seven engineering schools funded by the NSF Engineering Educational Initiative.
Last year, Sommer was cited by the Schreyer Honors College with its Outstanding Honors Advisor Award. The Penn State Engineering Society has feted him three times: Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award in 1987; Outstanding Teaching Award in 1991; and Premier Teaching Award in 1995.
He has also been honored by the University of Illinois, where he completed his Ph.D. and currently sits on the mechanical and industrial engineering advisory board, with its Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1997.
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Contact: Allison Kessler (814) 865-7517 or e-mail at akessler@psu.edu
