As the winter 2021 semester comes to a close, faculty and academic staff from across campus will be celebrated for their contributions to the university, academic community and professional development during Academic Recognition Week. Hosted May 3–7 in place of the traditional in-person ceremony, Academic Recognition Week will virtually honor the accomplishments of individuals nominated by their peers. The week will also include ongoing communications and social media shout-outs, so please be sure to follow @WSUFacSuccess on Twitter.

“Our faculty continue to go above and beyond to support student success, and their dedication and hard work is critical to Wayne State University’s core mission,” said Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Laurie M. Lauzon Clabo. “This year especially has presented challenges, and I am grateful for the innovative and adaptive spirit that so many leaders on campus have displayed to continue their exceptional service, scholarship, and teaching and mentoring.”

2021 Academic Recognition Awardees

The President’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching recognize faculty members who have made outstanding contributions to teaching. This year’s recipients are:

• Douglas Bianchi, associate professor and director of bands, Department of Music in the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts
• Suzanne Brown, associate professor, School of Social Work
• Kelly Donnellan, associate professor, Department of Communication in the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts
• Beth Fowler, senior lecturer in the Irvin D. Reid Honors College
• Sandra M. Gonzales, associate professor, Teacher Education Division in the College of Education
• Carolyn Harris, assistant professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science in the College of Engineering
• Jennifer Hart, associate professor, Department of History in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Donovan Hohn, associate professor and coordinator of creative writing, Department of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Richard Pineau, senior lecturer, Department of Mathematics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Laurel Whalen, lecturer and program coordinator of sport management and sports administration, Division of Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies in the College of Education

The Charles H. Gershenson & Board of Governors Distinguished Faculty Fellowship Awards recognize faculty members whose continuing achievements and current activities in scholarship, research, or the fine and performing arts are nationally distinguished. The Charles H. Gershenson Distinguished Faculty Fellowships are part of the benefaction to Wayne State by the late Charles H. Gershenson, who served on the Board of Governors. The Board of Governors Distinguished Faculty Fellowships are derived from revenues especially available to the board. The term of each fellowship is two years.

Charles H. Gershenson Distinguished Faculty Fellowship

• Fei Chen, professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
• Samiran Ghosh, associate professor, Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, and director of biostatistics for Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Research Design (BERD) in the School of Medicine
• Roger Pique-Regi, associate professor, Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics and Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology in the School of Medicine
• Tingting Yan, professor, Department of Marketing & Supply Chain Management in the Mike Ilitch School of Business

Board of Governors Distinguished Faculty Fellowship

• Sergei Voloshin, professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

The president is authorized to create a new faculty classification of Distinguished Service Professor. This classification is to be used in rare instances to designate senior faculty members who have made extraordinary contributions to the university outside their own disciplines or who, by unusual service outside the university, have brought great honor and recognition to Wayne State. This year’s recipients are:

• John Mogk, professor, Law School
• Michele Ronnick, professor in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Andrea Sankar, professor, chair and director of medical anthropology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

The Board of Governors Faculty Recognition Awards are given each year to members of the regular full-time faculty in recognition of a work of merit brought to fruition in the 12-month period immediately preceding the year of the award. The work of merit is a single act or event that constituted an outstanding contribution to scholarship and learning. This year’s recipients are:

• Natalie Bakopoulos, assistant professor, Department of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Susan L. Davis, professor (clinical), Department of Pharmacy Practice in the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
• Donovan Hohn, associate professor and coordinator of creative writing, Department of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Karen Marrero, associate professor, Department of History in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Joseph A. Roche, associate professor, Department of Health Care Sciences in the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Career Development Chairs are awarded to as many as 10 recently tenured faculty as part of the university’s program to support the teaching and research endeavors of faculty members in the developmental stages of their scholarly careers. This year’s recipients are:

• Jonathan Anderson, associate professor, Department of Music in the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts
• Khaled Beydoun, associate professor, Law School
• Susanne Brummelte, associate professor, Department of Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Penelope Higgs, associate professor, Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Karen MacDonell, associate professor, Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences in the School of Medicine
• Andrew Newman, associate professor, Department of Anthropology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Federico Rabuffetti, associate professor, Department of Chemistry in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Jada Strabbing, associate professor, Department of Philosophy in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

The Murray E. Jackson University Creative Scholar in the Arts Award supports a faculty-artist-in-residence program. This presidential initiative showcases exceptional faculty talent in the traditional performing, creative and visual arts, as well as more nontraditional arts, in pursuit of the university’s missions. This annual award was created to honor the memory of Murray E. Jackson, a valued member of the WSU community who was a poet, professor, and community and civil rights activist who served on the Board of Governors from 1981 to 2001.

• Donovan Hohn, associate professor and coordinator of creative writing, Department of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

The General Education Teaching Award recognizes instructors at all levels who have demonstrated excellence. This year’s recipients are:

• Beth Fowler, senior lecturer in the Irvin D. Reid Honors College
• Adrienne Jankens, assistant professor, Department of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Richard Pineau, senior lecturer, Department of Mathematics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

The Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award recognizes outstanding scholarly activities that have contributed significantly to WSU’s graduate programs. This year’s recipient is:

• Alexey Petrov, professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

The Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award honors graduate faculty who are recognized by their departments and their graduate students as excellent mentors. This year’s recipients are:

• Brady Baybeck, associate professor, Department of Political Science in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Alana Conti, associate professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences in the School of Medicine
• Zhixian Zhou, associate professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

The Outstanding Graduate Director Service Awards are co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Graduate School to highlight the important service by graduate directors in advancing graduate education in their programs. This year’s recipients are:

• Ivan Avrutsky, associate professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering
• Joshua S. Duchan, associate professor, Department of Music in the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts
• Lauren Kalman, associate professor, James Pearson Duffy Department of Art and Art History in the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts

The Garrett T. Heberlein Endowed Awards for Excellence in Teaching recognize graduate students who demonstrate instructional excellence. The award is designed to elevate the attention given to teaching as part of graduate education while preparing graduate students to serve as college and university teachers. This year’s recipients are:

• Robert Carr, Ph.D. candidate in physics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Kelsey Mesmer, Ph.D. candidate in communication, College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts

Learn more about awards and recognition from the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs online. For additional information about faculty and staff development and success initiatives, please visit provost.wayne.edu/resources/facultysuccess.