UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Richard Ordway, professor of molecular neuroscience and genetics in Penn State's Eberly College of Science, is the recipient of the 2023 Howard B. Palmer Faculty Mentoring Award.
The award honors and recognizes outstanding achievement by a faculty member with at least five years of service who effectively guides junior faculty. Howard Palmer served as senior associate dean of the Graduate School from 1984 to 1991.
Nominators called Ordway a generous mentor, a steadfast supporter of junior faculty members, and an advocate for increasing diversity in STEM fields. They said he’s a successful scientist who elevates those around him.
Ordway, an expert on the genetic analysis of neural function in health and disease, leads the Department of Biology’s Junior Faculty Mentoring Committee. In this role, he helps junior faculty members navigate the tenure process, secure grant funding, and establish their research and laboratory footprint.
“In addition to all that he does, Ordway has done an excellent job of creating a ‘safe space’ for junior faculty members to share our struggles and triumphs through this mentoring committee,” a nominator said. “It’s helped me find peers and advisers to help me navigate the tenure track.”
Nominators also praised the informal aspects of Ordway’s mentorship. One faculty member who was hired during the COVID-19 pandemic said Ordway went out of his way to regularly check in and see if they needed any assistance in everything from ordering lab supplies, to hiring personnel, to writing grant proposals.
“Ordway has been very clear that he wants to help me achieve success and establish a productive, well-funded laboratory,” a nominator said. “I trust his advice as I work to achieve this goal.”
Ordway also is committed to improving diversity and inclusion in science and is a strong proponent of hiring additional underrepresented faculty members, nominators said.
One junior faculty member said Ordway gave them great advice: It’s important to be aware of the research metrics that correlate with promotion and success, but only to a point. Great researchers, Ordway said, carve out their own niche and the rest follows.
“Chasing grants and publications is not sufficient to make you a successful scientist, but it will come if you seek to answer questions you passionately believe are important to answer,” a nominator said. “Ordway was key to helping me understand it wasn’t just OK to take my science off the expected path into these new directions, but that it would ultimately be key to my success and happiness.”