FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Aaron Podolefsky, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, (319) 273-2517
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa— Top faculty awards were presented recently to three University of Northern Iowa faculty members. They were honored for outstanding teaching, research and professional service.
Recipients, and the award they received are:
David W. May, associate professor of geography, the Class of 1943 Award for Excellence in Teaching, that not only rewards effective performance in the classroom, but also generosity with personal time and a serious concern with academic excellence and individual student needs, interests and development;
Richard J. Utz, associate professor of English, the Donald N. McKay Faculty Research Award, that recognizes a faculty member for “exceptional original contributions to research and scholarship, including the creative and performing arts”; and,
Jack D. Wilkinson, professor of mathematics, the Ross A. Nielsen Professional Service Award, presented to Wilkinson in honor of his “extraordinary record of meritorious service to both UNI and the discipline of mathematics education.”
Each of the awards includes a $2,000 stipend. They were presented by Aaron Podolefsky,
UNI provost and vice president for academic affairs.
May joined the UNI faculty in 1985, and has taught at all levels from general education courses to graduate seminars. His student evaluations are consistently high, though he maintains challenging standards for all students. “To succeed in any of Dr. May's classes requires great effort, time and dedication on the part of his students,” wrote one of them. “We learn more than we think possible with his guidance. We excel. His careful attention, dedication and hard work guarantees our success.”
Utz came to UNI in 1990, after earning his Ph.D. in English and German philology from the University of Regensburg, Germany. Beginning with his doctoral dissertation, which he later published, Utz established a new subfield of inquiry in Medieval English studies, that received an award from the German institution for outstanding work in English studies. In this area, he has edited one book and co-edited another; published essays, book chapters and reviews; presented four conference papers and organized three conference sessions. He has been described by The Medieval Review as “perhaps the foremost exponent of the `paradigm' of Nominalist influence upon late Medieval English Literature.”
His second field of concentration, the connections between late medieval philosophical and literary texts, has met with similar enthusiasm and international approval, and in 1998, he was invited to join, as its youngest member, the prestigious advisory board of Studies in Medievalism. He has also published essays, bibliographies and reviews in a number of other topics.
Wilkinson joined the UNI mathematics faculty in 1962. In nominating him for the award, Joel Haack, then mathematics department head, cited his “extraordinary record of meritorious service both to UNI and to the discipline of mathematics education.” Examples include his leadership in the National and Iowa Councils for Teachers of Mathematics. The Iowa Council awarded him its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1968.
He was instrumental in forming the Iowa Mathematics and Science Coalition and has brought several million dollars in federal National Science Foundation and Eisenhower grants to UNI for work with minority students in math. For the past several years, he has served as director of mathematics inservice education for Department of Defense Schools in many parts of the world.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Michael Millar, chair, Inter-American Studies Committee, (319) 273-2170
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
NOTE TO ASSIGNMENT EDITORS: David J. Padilla (pah-DEE-yah) is the second-highest ranking officer in human rights for the Organization of American States. He will have limited time at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, for interviews. If you are interested in speaking with him, please contact Vicki Grimes at (319) 273-2761. If interest is not expressed in advance, the local committee will schedule other activities into the 3:30 time-slot.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — David J. Padilla, assistant executive secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, D.C., will speak at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, in room 115 Seerley Hall on the University of Northern Iowa campus.
Padilla will speak on the origins, structures, resources, legal bases and principal functions of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. He will discuss their work in the Americas in general, and Latin America in particular. His presentation is open to the public free of charge.
Michael Millar, chair of UNI's Inter-American Studies Committee, which along with the UNI Student Activities Programming Board, is sponsoring the presentation, said Padilla will discuss a number of the Commission's reports on country situations, as well as cases it has presented to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Padilla also will outline the Commission's fact-finding work in the field, and address future steps he believes should be taken to increase respect for human rights in the region, including social, economic, cultural and environmental rights.
For more information, contact Michael Millar at (319) 273-2170.
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