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These awards will be presented at the University Awards Ceremony beginning at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, April 6, at The Penn State Scanticon on the University Park Campus.
The following writers from the Department of Public Information
contributed to this special section:
Kim Bierly, Paul Blaum, Vicki Fong, Barbara Hale,
Alan Janesch, A'ndrea Messer and Karen Wagner.
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Four University faculty members will receive the 1997 George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching. They are: John M. Cimbala, associate professor of mechanical engineering, University Park campus; Ellen Andrews Knodt, associate professor of English, Abington College; Barry Kur, associate professor of theatre arts, University Park campus; and Lisa Williams Walton, assistant professor of business logistics, University Park campus.
The award, named after Penn State's seventh president, was established in 1989 as a continuation of the AMOCO Foundation Award. It honors excellence in teaching at the undergraduate level.
Cimbala is recognized as a consistently outstanding teacher, with two teaching awards from the College of Engineering. He has developed and improved several undergraduate and graduate courses, including the undergraduate fluid mechanics laboratory course, and has single-handedly built up the undergraduate fluid mechanics laboratory into one of the world's finest and most sophisticated.
To make the subjects he teaches come alive for the students, Cimbala provides World Wide Web pages for every course he teaches and also uses simple desk-top demonstrations that vividly illustrate fluid mechanics principles. "I have a very simple philosophy of teaching," Cimbala said. "I always teach from the perspective of the student. In every course, I ask myself the question, 'If I were a student sitting in this class, what would be the best way of presenting this material so that I would learn most effectively?'"
Knodt, who has also won a teaching award from the College of the Liberal Arts, has been described as the epitome of the scholarly teacher. She has translated her ongoing research in rhetorical theory and practice not only into two composition textbooks and a reader for developing writers, but also into her everyday classroom activities. Whether she is teaching the basics of expository writing, advanced composition, American literature, or English language analysis, she uses collaborative learning techniques to make sure her students are learning.
"Teaching," said Knodt, "means organizing and presenting knowledge in ways that the students in the classroom can understand. It means bringing about change within the students. Teaching is hard, frustrating work, because change is never easy. Yet, when a breakthrough occurs, the student's joy of accomplishment is contagious, and the whole endeavor becomes enormously satisfying."
Kur, a nationally known teacher of voice and speech, has been described as knowledgeable, confident, dedicated and effective. The voice and speech coach for all University Resident Theatre Company productions, Kur is the creator and director of the University Park Ensemble -- an all-undergraduate troupe of actors who use the stage to instruct students and the public about campus life, AIDS, date rape, substance abuse and other issues relevant to their lives.
Kur says the ensemble's focus on interactive improvisation as well as scripted material enables students to move others toward positive action. "This alternative to lecturing has been risky and exhilarating," Kur said."As it relates to a teaching philosophy, it has strengthened my belief that real learning begins when students are given the opportunity to give voice to their opinions."
Walton has won teaching and advising awards from The Smeal College of Business Administration and the University's Outstanding Woman Faculty Member Award. Over the years, Walton has experimented with a variety of teaching methods, including one that combines lecture, discussion and collaborative learning. She helped develop a one-of-a-kind logistics course that enables students to tour European companies and learn how they handle logistics -- the movement of information and material from the supplier through the manufacturing process to final customer delivery. Her students have praised the quality of her performance and her extraordinary efforts in the classroom.
"Teaching is an activity aimed at the achievement of learning," Walton said, "practiced in such a passionate and enthusiastic manner as to instill within students the desire not only to learn but to actively participate in their learning. To be an effective teacher, one must love and be enthusiastic about teaching, explain course relevance to students, develop innovative curricula, use diverse teaching styles, promote active student learning and care about students and their development of knowledge and character."
Gordon DeJong, distinguished professor of sociology and director
of the graduate program in 
demography, has won the 1997 W.
LaMarr Kopp International Achievement Award. The award recognizes faculty
and staff members who have contributed significantly to Penn State's international
mission.
A Penn State faculty member for 33 years, DeJong and his research in demography have been a magnet for both domestic and international students. In 1987, he founded the graduate program in demography with six participating departments. The program now enrolls 55 students, 21 of whom are from developing countries. It is one of the largest graduate training programs in demography in the U.S. and is unique in its interdisciplinarity and in offering both M.S. and Ph.D degrees.
DeJong and his colleagues have received five successive Hewlett Foundation training and research grants in international demography which have provided tuition, stipend and dissertation research support for 56 international graduate students. The foundation also has provided support for short-term residencies by returning Third World demography program alumni, an effort Hewlett has used as an example for other universities.
Over his career, DeJong has conducted research in Peru, England, Holland, Israel, the Philippines, Thailand and Romania. These projects have resulted in a book and nearly two-dozen professional articles co-authored with Third World scholars. In the past 10 years, his training program grants and research program have supported on-campus visits of approximately 40 international researchers.
DeJong has been a senior fellow at the U.S. State Department's East-West Center in Hawaii, as well as a visiting faculty member at the Netherlands Graduate School in Demography. He served a term as editor of Demography, the official journal of the Population Association of America.
He was previously honored with the Penn State Provost's Award for excellence in collaborative teaching and the Distinction in the Social Sciences Award. He also received distinguished alumni awards from Central College, Iowa, and the University of Kentucky.
The 1997 winners of the Milton S. Eisenhower Award for
Distinguished Teaching are Constance Kirker, assistant
professor of integrative arts, and Stephen R. Turns, professor of
mechanical engineering.
Kirker consistently earns outstanding ratings from her students at the Penn State Delaware County campus and has made profound contributions to her campus in internationalizing its curriculum and bringing multicultural perspectives to undergraduate studies.
She is responsible for developing two well-subscribed independent learning courses in Japanese and Chinese art history in addition to a cultures semester program with a core of six thematically-linked courses that have attracted Fulbright scholars from Hong Kong and Latin America.
"Teaching, for me, is like a box of 64 brand new crayons. There is no limit to what you can do with all that spectacular potential, just as there is no limit to what you may accomplish with all the varied faces in the classroom and the simply breathtaking beauty of all the world's art as your subject matter," Kirker said. Her guiding principle in developing the curriculum for 14 courses in the arts and diversity is to bring her excitement of the subject matter to her students.
Turns' contributions to the teaching mission of his department also have been many, with more than 15 years leading class discussions in Penn State's mechanical engineering department. He is the author of a recently published undergraduate textbook, An Introduction to Combustion: Concepts and Applications, that has received outstanding reviews and has been adopted by more than 25 schools in its first year of publication. Turns also has been instrumental in the development of experimental laboratories and as a role model to both undergraduate and graduate faculty.
According to Turns, his teaching approach is grounded in two fundamental beliefs: that the instructor's attitude toward his or her students is key to fostering a productive learning environment and that showing a genuine love and enthusiasm of the subject matter motivates the students to learn. Turns said providing various contexts for the subject matter is also important -- applying engineering principles to real-world experiences.
In addition to learning the names of all of his students, even with enrollments up to 100, Turns provides his students with plenty of feedback, often answering questions and inquiries with a hand-written note.
The Milton S. Eisenhower Award for Distinguished Teaching recognizes outstanding efforts among Penn State's tenured faculty, employed full-time for at least five years, with undergraduate teaching as a major portion of their duties. Milton S. Eisenhower was president of Penn State from 1950 to 1956.
James D. Gallagher, campus executive officer at Penn State Worthington
Scranton campus, has been 
named the winner of the award for
administrative excellence.
The Administrative Excellence Award is given annually to Penn State staff members whose performance methods and achievements exemplify administrative excellence.
Gallagher joined Penn State as a graduate teaching assistant in 1959 and became a full-time instructor the following year at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. In 1963, he transferred to University Park where he rose to the rank of associate dean in charge of health, physical education and recreation programs at the campuses. Since 1979 he has served as the campus executive officer for Worthington Scranton.
During his tenure, Gallagher has been credited with providing leadership and direction to all spheres of campus operations. In excess of $2 million in donations has been raised and the number of scholarships has increased from 30 to more than 100. Campus enrollments also reached an all-time high of 1,425 for the current academic year.
A visionary who embraces change, Gallagher was supportive of the Plan for the Commonwealth. His enthusiasm for developing four-year programs caught on quickly and several are well under way. Nursing, occupational therapy and human development and family studies are three recent additions to the campus curriculum.
Gallagher has been active in a number of community activities. He currently serves on the board of trustees for the community medical center, as well as a private industry council for job training partnership.
At all levels of the institution, those that have come in contact with Gallagher admire his knack for team building.
One colleague sums it up this way: "He involves the campus community in all phases of planning and consistently makes judicious decisions based on our input."
T
he 1997 Excellence in Advising Awards will be presented
to Linda Morrow and A.L. "Bart" Bartlett. 
The award acknowledges excellence in advising, academic and career guidance
and assistance to students in decision making and goal setting.
An academic adviser at the Health and Human Development Undergraduate Advising Center since 1987, Morrow's primary focus has been on "pre-major" advising for students in the College of Health and Human Development who want to major in nutrition or biobehavioral health. She is adviser to countless students who come in contact with her at a potential turning point in their academic careers, including high school seniors, first-year students, sophomores who haven't declared a major, prospective transfer students and graduates of other programs considering a career change.
In her role as career mentor and nutrition instructor, Morrow teaches two, one-credit courses that prepare students to apply for dietetic internships and explore career opportunities in nutrition. She also serves as the faculty adviser for the Phi Upsilon Omicron and Kappa Omicron Nu honor societies. Kappa Omicron Nu recently presented her with its Adviser Award of Excellence in addition to honoring Penn State for best chapter.
"An academic adviser is, above all, an educator; I try to teach the strategies that will help a student reach his or her academic goals," Morrow said.
Bartlett, or "Bart" as his students and colleagues call him, has been a Penn State faculty member in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management (HR&IM) for 15 years. From the beginning, student advising has been an important part of his job. Bartlett spends 15 to 20 hours a week guiding students along their academic and career paths.
For 14 years Bartlett has been the faculty adviser to the Penn State Hotel and Restaurant Society, which is the largest of the student organizations in HR&IM. He served as adviser to the National Society of Minorities in Hospitality and is a member of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Support Network. Drawing from his business expertise in human resources, Bartlett's class discussions on diversity in the workforce have led many students to seek his advice outside of class.
Bartlett also offers an annual workshop on resume preparation and interviewing for hospitality jobs.
"I try to be approachable and open to students," he said. "I like to think that they also find me easy to talk to."
Elisha Nixon, counselor at the Multicultural Resource Center,
is the 1997 recipient of Penn State's Equal 
Opportunity Award.
The Equal Opportunity Award recognizes a University faculty or staff member who promotes the concept of equal opportunity through affirmative action and/or contributes to enhancing the educational environment of the University through improving cross-cultural understanding.
Nixon has been honored for her professional and personal advocacy efforts on behalf of diversity. The Multicultural Resource Center serves more than 3,000 students a year and is dedicated to providing academic and personal counseling to students of color at Penn State. In addition to her regular duties, she has constantly developed and implemented new initiatives such as the MRC student advisory board, the center's participation in Parents Weekend and "Conversations With Faculty."
Her efforts also extended throughout the entire University with the development of a Diversity Health Fair and Unity Days, an annual program started in 1995 to build coalitions through education, awareness and cultural sensitivity. The Unity Days program includes collaborative activities, speakers and films, as well as a "PAWS across Penn State" ceremony across the University Park campus.
Nixon is co-founder of the African American Community Organization, formed to support area African American children through educational and social activities. In 1993, she created a Saturday afternoon tutoring program for State College children, titled "Together We Can," with Penn State students as tutors.
The parent of three children, she has pursued a master's degree and is now seeking a doctorate in health education. But she still has found time to plan and participate in special recognition services each year for graduating African American students and their families. She also helped start a support group for African American women faculty and staff members at the University.
The McKay Donkin Award will be presented to Robert Jennings Heinsohn,
professor of mechanical 
engineering.
The award was established in 1969 in honor of the late McKay Donkin who served as vice president for finance and treasurer of the University from 1957 to 1968. It is presented to the full-time member of the faculty or staff or the retiree who has contributed most to the economic, physical, mental or social welfare of the faculty at Penn State.
Heinsohn received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y., in 1954; his master's degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1955 and his doctorate from Michigan State University in 1963.
He joined the Penn State faculty in 1963 as an assistant professor and in 1966 was promoted to associate professor, a title he held until 1977 when he was name professor. For the past 10 years Heinsohn has devoted one-third of his time to serve his department as the graduate adviser and also as the undergraduate program coordinator. He has chaired many departmental committees and also was the department's acting head from January 1994 to January 1995.
He also served in leadership positions at the college level, having chaired its Science, Technology and Society program and was the chairman of the college's Economic Opportunity Program and adviser to the Development Year Program.
Heinsohn has served in the Faculty Senate for more than 20 years. His fellow senators in the College of Engineering elected him as chairman of the Caucus of Engineering Senators and as their representative on Senate Council from 1991 to 1994, at which point he was elected by his fellow senators to serve as Senate secretary.
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Five Penn State professors will receive 1996-97 Faculty Scholar Medals for Outstanding Achievement.
They are: Robert N. Proctor, professor of the history of science, for the Arts and Humanities Medal; Tarasankar DebRoy, professor of materials science and engineering, for the Engineering Medal; Joanna Floros, professor of cellular and molecular physiology and pediatrics, for the Life and Health Sciences Medal; Jayanth R. Banavar, professor of physics, for the Physical Sciences Medal, and Linda M. Burton, professor of human development and family studies and professor of sociology, for the Social and Behavioral Sciences Medal.
Established in 1980, the award recognizes scholarly or creative excellence represented by a single contribution or a series of contributions around a coherent theme. A committee of faculty peers reviews nominations and selects candidates.
Proctor's study of the intersection between science and public policy has won him international recognition. His three books, Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazis, Value-Free Science? Purity and Power in Modern Knowledge and Cancer Wars: How Politics Shapes What We Know and Don't Know About Cancer, have had considerable impact on public thought and policy.
He received his B.S. in biology from Indiana University in 1976 and an M.S. and Ph.D. in the history of science from Harvard University in 1977 and 1984 respectively. He was a visiting scholar at the Hamburger Institut fur Sozialforschung in 1995 and J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Senior Scholar-in-Residence, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C., in 1994.
Proctor was an instructor and teaching fellow in the departments of biology, history of science and Afro-American studies at Harvard University from 1976 to 1984 during which time he was also a Fulbright Scholar at the Free University of Berlin. In 1986 he became a faculty member and chair of the program in science, technology and power, Eugene Lang College, New School for Social Research, N.Y. He came to Penn State in 1990 as an associate professor in the department of history and in 1993 he became professor.
DebRoy will receive his award for a series of interconnected works which, taken as a whole, provide a quantitative basis for understanding fusion welding processes and a scientific standard for other researchers. His unique approach to solving complex welding problems based on physical and mathematical modeling is thorough and creative.
He received his B.E. in metallurgical engineering from the Regional Engineering College, Durgapur, India, in 1969 and his Ph.D. in 1974 from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He received the Adams Memorial Membership Award for outstanding teaching from the American Welding Society in 1992, the Wilson Research Award from the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences in 1993, and the American Welding Society's McKay Helm Award for best technical paper on welding of steels in 1994. He is a Fellow of the American Society for Metals.
He came to Penn State in 1980 as an assistant professor, was named associate professor in 1984 and professor in 1989.
Floros is an international leader in the study of lung surfactant proteins. She has pioneered the use of molecular biology and molecular genetics tools in the understanding of the regulation of surfactant protein genes, lung development and the genetic basis of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS).
She received her B.A. in biology from Northeastern University in 1974 and her Ph.D. in pathology from Temple University School of Medicine in 1980. In 1996 she received a merit award from the National Institutes of Health, and in 1988, she received a Genentech/American Lung Association Career Investigator Award. In 1996 she was profiled in Who's Who in the American Thoracic Society.
She began her career as a research fellow in biological chemistry in 1980 at Harvard Medical School and by 1988, rose to the level of associate professor of pediatrics. She joined Penn State's Milton S. Hershey College of Medicine in 1991 as professor of cellular and molecular physiology and became professor of cellular and molecular physiology and pediatrics in 1996.
Banavar has solved a set of fundamental, long-standing problems involving fluid motions at the molecular scale and in the continuum limit using computer simulation techniques. His work has opened the pathway to understanding fluid properties at short-length scales, and highlighted how state-of-the-art computer technology can solve fundamental scientific problems.
He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in physics from Bangalore University, India, in 1972 and 1974 respectively. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Pittsburgh in 1975 and 1978 respectively. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
He began his career as a research associate at the University of Chicago in 1978. In 1981 he became a member of the technical staff at Bell Laboratories and in 1983 a member of the professional staff at Schlumberger-Doll Research. He joined Penn State in 1988 as associate professor of physics and materials research and became professor in 1991.
Burton's studies of African American families have contributed insights and significantly impacted the field. She is one of the premiere family sociologists in the U.S.
She received a B.S. in gerontology, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology form the University of Southern California in 1978, 1982 and 1985 respectively. In 1996 she received an American Family Therapy Academy Award for Innovative Contributions to Family Research and a "Products of Compton" Award from the City of Compton, Calif., and Compton Coalition for Progress. In 1987 she was named a Brookdale National Fellow and in 1988 a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study at Stanford University.
Burton was an instructor in the University of Southern California from 1981 to 1984 and a demographic researcher for the Seismic Safety Commission in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1983. In 1984 she joined the Penn State faculty as assistant professor of human development and family studies and, in 1990, became associate professor of human development and family studies and a senior research associate in the Population Issues Research Center. In 1993 she became professor of human development and family studies and sociology.
Robert Zelis, professor of medicine and cellular and molecular
physiology at The Milton S. Hershey 
Medical Center, has been
chosen to receive the 1997 Howard B. Palmer Faculty Mentoring Award.
The Palmer Faculty Mentoring Award recognizes faculty members who most effectively promote the collegial and professional development of junior faculty.
Dr. Zelis, director of cardiology research at the medical center, came to Penn State in 1974 as professor of medicine and physiology and chief of the Division of Cardiology. His research areas are circulatory physiology, congestive heart failure and teaching techniques. Dr. Zelis' professional achievements include at least 330 publications, service on the National Institutes of Health Experimental Cardiovascular Sciences Study Section and the National Grant Review Committee of the American Heart Association.
Past president of the American Federation for Clinical Research, Dr. Zelis has been elected to the Association of American Physicians and selected for inclusion in Who's Who in America, International Who's Who in Medicine, American Men and Women in Science and Who's Who in the World.
A colleague and former student noted, "His ability to simplify and integrate complex concepts rather than having students memorize facts has served as a teaching model for me over the years. I have received a number of teaching awards for my Introduction to Medicine course by using his philosophy. Dr. Zelis has been the ultimate mentor. Most importantly, he has remained a trusted colleague and dear friend."
The Palmer Faculty Mentoring Award is named for Howard B. Palmer, senior associate dean of the Graduate School of the University from 1985 until his retirement in 1991.
Juliet A. Avery, staff assistant to the director of academic affairs
at the Penn State Worthington Scranton 
campus, is the first
recipient of the University's new Support Staff Award.
A Penn State employee since 1973, Avery has held her current position for 13 years. In addition to her regular duties, she maintains 10 priority budgets and handles all related paperwork, while hiring, training and supervising all wage payroll personnel and work-study students in the academic affairs offices at the campus.
Avery has long taken an active role in campus functions, chairing the campus Diversity Committee (the first non-faculty member to do so), serving on various committees such as the Focus Group on Advising and the Focus Group on Staff Review and Development Plan. Even with such a busy schedule, she found time to earn an associate and B.S. degree in rehabilitation services education. In the past 10 years she has participated in more than 20 certificate programs aimed at self-improvement, time management and career track seminars.
Past president of the Scranton Business and Professional Women's Club, she also chaired the Intermembership Media Loan Program for the Pennsylvania State Educational Office Professionals. She currently is a board member for the Friends of the Library and chairman of professional development for the Northeast Pennsylvania Counselors Association.
Since 1982, she has received nine awards for professional excellence, including the Scranton Business and Professional Women's Club 1989 Woman of the Year and the 1993 Penn State Outstanding Office Professional Award.
Avery has been a volunteer worker with the American Cancer Society, American Red Cross, Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science and Scranton State School for the Deaf. She also sings in the choir for St. Patrick's Church.
Maria J. Russoniello, director of University Relations at Penn
State Worthington Scranton campus, is the 
1997 recipient
of the University's Staff Excellence Award.
The Staff Excellence Award is given to a member of the University staff who has demonstrated and practiced the philosophy of continuous quality improvement, team spirit and managerial excellence, and provided leadership in establishing a quality service orientation in the performance of assigned duties.
Under Russoniello's leadership over the past 10 years, the campus has initiated a model Alumni Mentor Program for Campus Scholars, an active Lion Ambassador program and numerous outreach programs involving alumni and students. Her work with the campus alumni society has resulted in significant growth in membership and the addition of chapters in neighboring counties. This year, the alumni society donated $30,000 toward the establishment of a campus occupational therapy lab, as well as supporting many other academic and student activities.
Russoniello also helped to nearly triple the number of campus-based endowed scholarships to 19. In addition, she has been instrumental in increasing annual private support.
She also has been honored for her community work, having served as chair of the board of directors for Leadership Lackawanna. She is vice chair of the Easter Seal Society of Northeastern Counties, and on the board of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce and other groups. She has involved many Penn State students in a number of community projects and charitable services, such as serving food in local soup kitchens or educating elementary students about people with disabilities.
Murry Nelson, professor of education and American studies and
coordinator of graduate education, 
curriculum and instruction,
will receive the first-ever President's Award for Excellence in Academic
Integration this year.
The award was developed to recognize excellence in the integration of teaching, research and service. President Graham B. Spanier's primary goal is for Penn State to be the leading university in the nation in the integration of teaching, research and service.
During his 22 years as a member of the College of Education faculty, Nelson has consistently demonstrated excellence by weaving into his teaching the threads of his research as well as his professional and personal experiences. Nelson's research has focused on social studies, education, citizenship and society. His professional/personal experiences have included serving local schools by switching places with a local fourth-grade teacher, serving on the school board and taking part in a local citizens education group.
"I have always viewed the University and its environs as a community, and my role in the community was to help make it a better place to live and work," Nelson said. "Thus, my teaching is focused on enabling my students to provide the same kind of service as teachers/citizens in their own communities. My teaching of social studies education courses and of American studies courses are designed with the same goal in mind -- that is, how have others improved their schools, their communities and the United States, and how can we work, individually and collectively, to do so?"
Brendon D. Malovhr, the Penn State undergraduate student credited
with disarming the suspected 
assailant in a Sept. 17, 1996 shooting
at University Park, is the 1997 recipient of the Barash Award for Human
Service.
The family of the late Sy Barash created the annual award in 1975. It recognizes a full-time member of the Penn State faculty, staff or student body who has contributed most, apart from assigned duties, to human causes, public service activities and organizations for the welfare of fellow humans.
Malovhr, an undergraduate student in aerospace engineering and a University
Scholar, was among 14 people honored in November by the Penn State Board
of Trustees for acts of heroism and exemplary service during the September
sniper attack on the HUB lawn when
one student was killed and another wounded.
Malovhr was returning to his dorm from class at the time of the mid-morning shooting. His act of bravery is credited with saving the lives of others who would have been walking on the HUB lawn paths a few minutes later.
Andrew G. Ewing, professor of chemistry, is the 1997 winner of
Penn State's Graduate Faculty Teaching 
Award.
The award recognizes tenured faculty members who have excelled both in teaching at the graduate level and in supervising thesis work of graduate students.
A specialist in analytical chemistry and neurochemistry, Ewing helped develop Penn State's current course structure for analytical chemistry graduate students shortly after joining the faculty in 1984. From 1990 to 1995 he was his department's assistant head for graduate education and instituted new procedures that doubled the annual number of applications from domestic students. Currently, he is co-director of the neuroscience option in the new Integrative Bioscience Graduate Degree Program.
Ewing fosters his students' communications skills through a program of monthly "marathon" meetings in his home, weekly topic meetings on campus and "brainstorming" mini-meetings when and where the situation warrants.
The meetings combined with his personal interaction and attention to each student make for a highly productive research group that depends on collective brainstorming and interaction while encouraging independence.
Ewing also has been honored with the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, the Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, the Swedish Medical Council Visiting Scientist Fellowship and the Penn State Faculty Scholar Medal in Physical Sciences and Engineering.
He is a cum laude graduate of St. Lawrence University and earned his doctorate at Indiana University, Bloomington.
Paul Harvey Jr., associate professor of history and classics and
ancient Mediterranean studies at the 
University Park campus, will
receive the University's Alumni Teaching Fellow Award.
Established in 1985 to honor distinguished teaching and to encourage teaching excellence, the award was first presented in 1986 by the Alumni Association, the Undergraduate Student Government and the Graduate Student Government.
Harvey is described as a superb teacher of ancient history and a valued mentor by undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty colleagues alike. His colleagues, in particular, praise Harvey for his encyclopedic knowledge and his ability to link ancient texts and issues to problems of modern society -- for instance, using the economic and social impact of disbanding the Roman army in the 2nd century B.C.E. to illuminate similar problems created in modern times when wars end or armies shrink.
"I don't know that I have a formal teaching philosophy," Harvey said, "but there are certain principles I attempt to maintain and certain practices I attempt to follow in my teaching. These include maintaining rigorous academic standards in every class while engaging students in a friendly, informal fashion that encourages discussion and questions. In my experience, neither a false camaraderie nor an authoritarian stance is conducive to an effective learning environment, whatever the size of the class."
Joseph D. Hall, a retired U.S. Air Force non-commissioned officer
who graduated from Penn State in 
December 1996 with a bachelor's
degree in history and a 3.9 grade-point average, will receive the University's
Outstanding Adult Student Award this year.
Hall, who plans to continue his studies and work toward a master's degree in history at Penn State, is an exemplary student who loves his studies and thrives on research projects. After a successful career in the military, he is now succeeding as a student, despite the concurrent challenges of raising a family and making an 80-mile round-trip commute to campus.
Hall has "a sharp intellect, an appreciation for learning, and a drive to absorb as much as possible," said one of his professors. As an undergraduate in a graduate-level seminar, the professor said, Hall was one of the more active participants, "confidently adding information and points of interest or arguing an issue with students of a more advanced academic standing. He expresses himself clearly and he writes well."
Hall feels that his hard work and success have had a positive influence on his high-school-age stepdaughter, who will begin her studies at Penn State this fall. Hall also believes his example has inspired other veterans, "who initially considered returning to school impossible," to enroll in college.
Ten students will receive Graduate Assistant Awards for Outstanding Teaching during the student awards reception.
The award, jointly sponsored by the Graduate School and the Office of the Vice Provost and Dean for Undergraduate Education, recognizes graduate students for superior teaching in the areas of physical science and engineering, life sciences, social and behavioral sciences and the arts and humanities.
The selection committee judges nominees on several criteria including effectiveness of their presentations, use of clear and fair evaluation procedures, accessibility to their students and sensitivity to individual differences in the classroom.
The 1997 winners are: James Anthony, mathematics; Brett D. Guenther, electrical engineering; Elisabeth A. Hale, ecology; Heather Hayton, comparative literature; Eric D. Johnson, mathematics; Paula Maccini, special education; Kelly Marsh, English; Jennifer M. Ritter, curriculum and instruction; Bruce Skaggs, business administration; and John J. Wall, psychology.
