Northern Illinois University’s most diverse council in Fraternity and Sorority Life is taking on a new name reflective of their Greek-letter chapters’ historic commitment to cultural identity and belonging.
In a nearly unanimous vote earlier this term, the executive leadership of the United Greek Council rolled out a rebranding as the Multicultural Greek Council in time to recruit for the coming academic year.
“Thanks to resources provided to us by NIU, our board is more cognizant of the barriers that exist to students finding us,” said Princess Jeremie, MGC president and a senior computer science major. “Our main goal for the year has been promoting an image where students can picture themselves, and this name change helps new Huskies better find people who share the same lived experiences. We wanted to address why prospective Huskies may not be coming to events or learning what we’re about.”
Aubrey Hense, acting director for Fraternity and Sorority Life, credits the work of the Revitalizing Greek Life Task Force with providing marketing and recruitment training and support to all of FSL’s four councils and 41 chapters through the services of campus partner Phired Up.
“The council has been talking about this for a while, and now was the right time to implement the change with specialized assistance,” said Hense. “United Greek Council was more of an idealized identity, whereas Multicultural Greek Council is their actual identity. I’m proud to see our community taking what they’ve learned from Phired Up, and reaching students from traditionally underrepresented populations who may not know what’s out there for them. Nationally, these are some of the youngest organizations in existence, and NIU has been a frontrunner with so many of the earliest chapters.”
Meg Junk, chief of staff for the Division of Student Affairs and acting executive director for Student Involvement, praises MGC’s growth in owning their authenticity.
“I’m thrilled to see the council continuing to set these standards for best practices and set an example as a multicultural leader among other institutions,” said Junk. “Being able to explore what we represent and articulate our values is what helps us coalesce around our cause and create sustainable action.”
Out of MGC’s 15 fraternities and sororities, which includes an open-gender chapter — ten of the groups are single-letter chapters, meaning they were among the first founded on college campuses nationally. Two of those ten are “alpha chapters” — their organization’s original founding chapter nationwide.
“I didn’t realize so many diverse groups of people were on campus and wasn’t really involved at NIU until I joined the council and joined my chapter,” said Jeremie. “For Huskies hoping to find their chosen family, this is the pathway. Incoming students who look for Greek-letter organizations that align with their values will see a lot more opportunities on campus and even post-college open up for them.”
Thanks to her time in FSL, Jeremie will graduate in May with a job lined up at a software company. Networking through members of her chapter, alpha Kappa Delta Phi International Sorority Inc., helped her secure a summer internship that turned into a full-time offer. Before serving as MGC president, Jeremie ran and was elected as secretary last year. She says it’s the camaraderie through her council and chapter that has catalyzed these accomplishments at NIU and to come in her future career.
“You make some of your closest friends and family when you join the Fraternity and Sorority Life community,” said Jeremie. “I grew up with an older brother, so valued friendships with sorority sisters who I can have girl talk with has been a highlight of my college experience.”
Date posted: April 21, 2022 | Author: Andrew Pemberton | Comments Off on United Greek Council rebrands as Multicultural Greek Council
Established in 2021 by the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, the Excellence in Online Teaching Award recognizes faculty who excel in online teaching by utilizing best practices for online course delivery.
The recipients of this year’s Excellence in Online Teaching Awards will be recognized on Thursday, April 21 during a reception in the Altgeld Hall Auditorium from 3 to 5 p.m.
Linh Nguyen Instructor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Linh Nguyen
For years, Linh Nguyen has been the primary instructor for CHEM110, the introductory course with the highest enrollment in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
“Student success in this course is paramount to the department’s undergraduate mission, as the course serves as a prerequisite for a variety of NIU programs and is our main credit‐hour producer,” said Victor Ryzhov, professor and director of graduate studies for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
“Given the importance CHEM 110 to our department and the success that Dr. Nguyen brings by teaching it online, I cannot think of a more deserving candidate for this award,” continued Ryzhov.
Nguyen commitment to student success is apparent. She has attended several workshops hosted by the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning to improve her skills in online course delivery.
“My teaching principles boil down to my trust that students have the desire to learn and my job is to facilitate their learning to the best of their ability in their current living situations,” says Nguyen.
For Nguyen those principles are put into practice through her course design. The course content, learning activities and assessments are strongly aligned with learning objectives while also providing students with flexibility. Learners have the option to learn from text, animated videos, pre-recorded videos or attending live synchronous sessions. To foster student to student interaction, she uses the group function on Blackboard, randomly assigning students to study groups of five to six, giving them access to a variety of collaborative tools.
In addition, Nguyen is also an accessible, compassionate and caring educator who identifies additional resources and reaches out to help students in need. She provides rapid feedback, setting the expectation that her students will hear back from her within 24 hours given they reach out to her during a workday.
“Given the unprecedented pandemic, I included a section on Blackboard about anxiety with active links to student counseling services, the NIU Protecting the Pack website and the DeKalb County Community Garden Mobile Food Pantry food distribution schedule,” said Nguyen, understanding that students’ needs have been significant and exacerbated. “Sometimes the reasons behind a student’s poor academic performance are mind-blowing!”
For Michael Archambault, Nguyen’s care and compassion made an impact. As a nontraditional student, Archambault was nervous when he returned to the classroom after a twenty-year hiatus with little computer knowledge and having never taken an online course.
“Dr. Nguyen was always available to work with me anytime I needed an extra hand, helping regain my confidence,” recalled Archambault. “Dr. Nguyen has truly impressed me by the effort she puts forth for her students and in the compassionate way it is always delivered.”
“Dr. Nguyen has encouraged and inspired me to shoot for the stars, to believe in myself, and provided me all the tools necessary for my continued success,” continued Archambault.
Dana Bardolph Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology
Dana Bardolph
Dana Bardolph is described as organized, consistent, inclusive, supportive and collaborative—all qualities that she embeds into her synchronous and asynchronous online anthropology courses.
“Dana is committed to encouraging women and BIPOC students to engage with her classes, with articles on race, gender and social justice in archaeology. Her guest speakers have included women, Latina, black and Native American researchers,” said Leila Porter, chair of the Department of Anthropology and Presidential Engagement Professor. “As a result, students can see that archaeology is a dynamic field that thrives from diverse perspectives including their own.”
One of the courses taught by Bardolph is ANTH 210, Exploring Archaeology. This course is an introductory class required of anthropology majors and is also part of the general education “Creativity and Critical Analysis Knowledge Domain.” As a result, the class generally contains a mix of students who are very interested in studying archaeology and others who are simply taking the course to meet a requirement. The student evaluations of ANTH 210 for the last 3 years are consistently excellent from this whole array of students.
Bardolph skills as an educator provide the foundation for students in her classes to succeed.
“I never had issues finding assignments, due dates, or resources which took away a lot of the stress from being not only a new college student, but a new student in the online learning space,” said Ashley Barry, an undergraduate Honors student. “In the way of resources, Dr. Bardolph provided a variety of links and handouts to encourage students to get involved on campus and utilize the programs made available to us by the university.”
As an Honors student, Barry was required to complete an additional research paper on an anthropological subject of her choice and Professor Bardolph mentored her throughout the process.
“When all was said and done, I received an A+ on the paper, and Dr. Bardolph’s words of affirmation inspired me to submit my essay to an academic journal for consideration,” recalled Barry. “Lo and behold, the journal accepted my essay, leading me to become a published researcher as a freshman in undergraduate studies. I could not have accomplished this by any means without the continuous support, encouragement, and guidance from Dr. Bardolph along the way.”
Trude Jacobsen Professor, Department of History
Trude Jacobsen
Trude Jacobsen is known for using gaming platforms such as Minecraft and Roblox, virtual reality equipment and other multimedia tools to bring new and creative approaches to learning that reach a broad group of students.
Colleague Eric Hall describes Trude Jacobsen’s online teaching methods as an “imaginative and inventive use of multimedia technology employing many of the best tools available to online instructors to create innovative, interactive learning activities.”
Hall continues, “In addition to bringing attention to the diverse needs of learners, Dr. Jacobsen’s online classes are smart, engaging, and innovative, while also maintaining the clarity needed for students in the expectations she sets for writing assignments, synchronous online discussions, and students’ required use of multimedia in her classes.”
To know that Jacobsen’s classes are engaging, one needs to look no further than students’ evaluations of her courses, which are consistently rated among the best courses offer in the Department of History.
“By drawing from scholarly articles, primary source documents, films, documentaries, and recorded lectures, Dr. Jacobsen’s thoughtfully organized courses reflect her passion for engaging with students and making history courses interactive and captivating,” said Chloe Green, a master’s student in Asian History.
“Beyond her role as an instructor, she has emphasized the significance of community among students, which plays a critical role in the level of engagement in her courses,” continued Green. “Dr. Jacobsen’s synchronous weekly live sessions, innovative assessment methods and welcoming nature represent her determination to offer students meaningful online courses that broaden their ability to engage in historical thought and practice.”
Date posted: April 18, 2022 | Author: Andrew Pemberton | Comments Off on Three faculty recognized with 2022 Excellence in Online Teaching Awards
Outstanding teachers nurture the love of learning in their students, who in turn are aware of their growth and grateful for the experience and knowledge gained.
Undergraduates drive the nominating process; student advisory committees in each college nominate faculty members by assembling comments and letters of recommendation from their fellow Huskies as well as other evidence of effective teaching.
To inspire students’ interest in and appreciation of their academic field.
To respond flexibly to students’ learning needs through a variety of instructional strategies.
To address students’ needs beyond the classroom with commitment to their well-being,
To demonstrate a pattern of sustained teaching excellence, maintain current knowledge of their subject area and its pedagogical practices.
To work actively within their program area to improve undergraduate education at an institutional level.
The four will join other NIU honorees from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, April 21, in the Altgeld Hall Auditorium for the Faculty Awards Celebration. The program begins at 3:30 p.m. No RSVP is needed; email ewright1@niu.edu for more information.
Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching
Stephanie DeSpain, Department of Special and Early Education
Stephanie DeSpain
Content. Care. Compassion. Communication.
To students in Stephanie DeSpain’s Early Childhood Education classrooms, the message is clear: They and their learning come first, and their professor makes sure they know that.
Karli Waldrep, a Physical Education major, found that “Dr. DeSpain taught the material in a way that any major could apply to their own situation.”
“From Day One she showed that we mattered as students and that, in any situation, we could come to her with questions or for help,” Waldrep says. “She allowed the students to engage in the material – in their own way – that still allowed for a full understanding of the content.”
Early Childhood Education major Elizabeth Luczywek calls DeSpain “a role model and a person who cared for me as a student.”
She credits DeSpain for providing her the confidence to become “a unique and sensitive future teacher” through the professor’s frequent classroom anecdotes from her professional and personal lives.
“This very unique way of teaching encouraged me to share my own experiences, opened my mind on other methods and made me aware of their outcomes,” Luczywek says. “Everything that she taught me about what a teacher should be she also put into action by applying it to her own behavior: being responsive, respectful, open-minded, organized, culturally aware, sensitive, understanding and professional.”
Fellow Early Childhood major Teddi Clark agrees.
“My want to be a teacher has grown throughout the years because of Dr. DeSpain, and I know that I have gained the important skills to teach the young minds of tomorrow because of her,” Clark says.
“I have always been impressed by the knowledge Dr. DeSpain emanates when it comes to learning about children with disabilities, along with their families,” she adds. “(She) has instilled in me the importance of diversity and inclusion in my future classroom, and exemplified how much this means to her as a teacher.”
“My favorite emails from Dr. DeSpain would be about how much she was enjoying the weather and how she hoped we were having a good day,” Clark says. “It is small details like this that showed me she cared inside and outside of class time.”
Keith Millis, Department of Psychology
Keith Millis
Most professors teach the students enrolled in their classes to advance their learning.
Just ask Lynn Kang, who took Millis’ PSYC 305: Research Methods class in 2019.
“Dr. Millis was a motivating and generous instructor who made a fast-paced summer course interesting and engaging,” Kang says.
“His video lectures were also engaging. I remember sometimes coming online after an exhausting day, and listening to his lectures would relax me,” she adds. “Dr. Millis makes his videos enjoyable but informative. Not only did I feel like I gained knowledge; I also was enthralled by the subject being taught.”
“During the time that classes were online for the Spring 2021 semester, Dr. Millis had an uplifting spirit,” Kissel says. “He efficiently explained material while adding humor to the lectures. Even my roommates, who were not in his class, enjoyed listening in and found the class interesting.”
Graduates of Millis’ courses call him a “brilliant, encouraging and dedicated” professor with “a deeper respect for students” who is “born to teach psych” and “makes me excited about learning.”
Other adjectives include amazing, passionate, creative, funny, knowledgeable, friendly, energetic and kind, all of which are evident in a project that requires students to evaluate research found online, insert flaws into their summaries and then challenge classmates find those flaws.
“This is an ingenious way to help students take a step beyond where they are in critical thinking,” one alum says. “His syllabi are filled with creative assignments that help students create meaningful products that also have real-world applications.”
For Kissel, Millis’ willingness “to go out of his way to help students” demonstrates his dedication.
“When I participated in an independent study with Dr. Millis, I was always certain that if I did not understand what was occurring in the class, he would be more than happy to help me discover what the roadblock was to my comprehension,” Kissel says.
“Along with this, Dr. Millis was willing to understand me on a more personal level by discovering my interests and hobbies and tying them into the work being done in the study,” she adds. “Through this, I was able to know that he sincerely valued my success and desire to grow in the field, as well as to maintain interest with it along the way.”
Artemus Ward, Department of Political Science
Artemus Ward
Hollywood versions of teachers on the silver screen often seem utopian.
“I never expected to meet a professor that would forever change my life. I always believed that those things only happen in movies, like in the film, ‘Good Will Hunting,’ ” says Michaelangelo Herrera, who took two courses from Ward.
“Looking back now, it wasn’t just the academics; it was everything about him that astonished me. I learned that Professor Ward is much more than any instructor,” Herrera adds, mentioning Ward’s education, accomplishments, media interviews and outside interests. “Just like a composer, his curricula were his masterpieces.”
Herrera appreciated how Ward “fashioned questions so well that it made all of his students really ponder different ideals, various perspectives – and themselves. He challenged students to use their minds, valued their input and made everyone feel included.”
Known as a “captivating” professor whose “enthusiasm for teaching others is unparalleled,” Ward teaches courses that are not only interesting and entreating but also “the hardest” that some of his students face while at NIU.
Fall 2021 graduate Aidan Simmons says Ward possesses “a gift” in creating “an environment where students want to ask question, knowing they will get a detailed answer, and to deliver information in a compelling and engaging way.”
“It is an even greater gift to do so while motivating students to learn outside of the classroom as well,” Simmons says, “to the point where learning becomes less of a chore and more of a pastime.”
Ward merges the Socratic teaching methods of law classes with lectures, allowing “students to still be comfortable in learning material by listening” while also giving many “the extra push to come out of their shell and participate.”
His questions often exceed the cases listed in the syllabus to encompass “the social, political and economic issues that surrounded them,” Simmons says, a tactic that forces students to “put the pieces of the puzzle together to see the bigger picture.”
For Simmons, that showed “the pinnacle” of “what every teacher should strive toward.”
“I would find myself researching every detail of the cases before class for hours, going down rabbit-holes of information, even if it was only tangentially related to material we were required to learn, just for more context,” he says, “and loving every minute of it.”
Excellence in Undergraduate Instruction
Stephanie Uhr, School of Nursing
Stephanie Uhr
Students in Stephanie Uhr’s courses in the School of Nursing call her by her first name – and at her request.
The instructor with two NIU Nursing degrees has taught pre-licensure courses here since 2014 while also continuing to work at Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital as a lead lactation consultant in the Breastfeeding Resource Center.
Joshua Copher, who is completing his first year as a nursing student, says Uhr has “all the great qualities” necessary for effective teaching and an ability to adapt.
“For one, Stephanie can put herself on our level, recognizing that just because we are students does not mean that we lack valid ideas and knowledge. She is just as willing to learn from us as we are from her,” Copher says.
“One of the best things she ever told us was, ‘I am not an expert in anything.’ She described how having all those letters behind her name didn’t make her an expert,” he adds, “but rather a more-experienced person with that much more knowledge to share with us.”
That exists outside the classroom as well, he says.
“Stephanie was always there to listen to us,” Copher says. “Whether it was to implement change or just get a little off our chests, Stephanie was there with an open door and a listening ear. One thing you can bet on is if Stephanie’s door is open, you are welcome.”
Uhr’s students describe her as an “ambitious, amazing and supportive” instructor with “a genuine personality” who “makes her class interesting and presents concepts in a way that makes the content easy to grasp.”
She’s also known as a “truly a bright spot in a very difficult and grueling semester” as well as a passionate mentor always willing to make time and offer great advice when asked.
In her classroom, Uhr encourages “inclusion and kindness,” something she models herself through “her ability to teach so many different students, at different levels of learning, at once.”
Maegan Gross considers her time in Uhr’s professional nursing and childbearing nursing courses as a “privilege.”
“She always created a positive learning environment while also constantly assessing and adapting to our needs as students,” Gross says. “Her teaching style was very enlightening, humorous, educational and very clear and easy to follow. She always let us know her expectations of us as her students and helped us to achieve those expectations by being a great teacher.”
Date posted: April 18, 2022 | Author: Andrew Pemberton | Comments Off on Four honored for excellence in undergraduate teaching, instruction
Outstanding faculty are often lauded for their teaching and research, but some have an additional skill that truly enriches the university community.
Betty La France from the Department of Communication has been named the recipient of the inaugural Exemplary Faculty Mentoring Award.
They are the ones who take the time to teach and mentor not only their students, but also their junior colleagues who are learning to navigate the higher education landscape. To recognize those individuals, NIU has created the Exemplary Faculty Mentoring Award – and has selected Betty La France, who teaches Organizational/Corporate Communication in the Department of Communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, as the first to receive the award.
“In academe, we always say that we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us,” NIU Provost Beth Ingram says. “One of the most significant ways that we lift each other up is through mentorship: lending support to an early-career faculty member by being a good listener, a sounding board and a guide to career development. Betty La France exemplifies those behaviors, and we are proud to honor her as the first recipient of the Exemplary Faculty Mentoring Award.”
Those who wrote in support of LaFrance’s nomination couldn’t agree more.
“Nearly every faculty member in our department seeks Professor La France out for advice and counsel. She is a role model of professionalism, wholeheartedly working on meaningful service, and laughing at work,” says her colleague, Kathryn Kady, in her nomination letter “Her mentorship regarding my research, teaching and service has formed the fabric of my work life since I joined NIU 16 years ago. The positive experience I have had at NIU is in large part due to her.”
Occasionally, LaFrance begins mentoring individuals even before they have joined the faculty. Such was the case with Andrea Guzman, who wrote in support of the nomination. She says that La France took her under her wing when she was still a graduate student at NIU.
“I probably would not be here – or working as a professor anywhere – if it were not for Dr. La France. She was one of the professors who encouraged me to pursue a doctorate degree,” Guzman says.
“During our conversations, she also gently inquired about, and offered advice regarding, my work as a teaching assistant and served as a sounding board on how to balance my school obligations with more personal issues,” adds Guzman, who says she strives to apply those lessons to her own interactions with students. “It was not until I began teaching graduate students myself that I realized Dr. La France was modeling how to be a compassionate educator.”
Shupei Yuan, another of the nominators, didn’t encounter La France quite as early, but recalls her being one of the faculty who made her feel most welcome when she arrived in 2017.
“Joining NIU as a freshly graduated Ph.D., I faced a lot of stress and challenges to adjust my role from student to faculty,” Yuan says. “She often stops by my office and opens her door to me whenever I need her. Even during the pandemic, Dr. La France would periodically reach out to me and check how I was doing with teaching, research and other work-related matters. I cannot express enough gratitude for her gesture.”
All of those supporting the nomination wrote glowingly of La France’s willingness to share her professional expertise and of her value as a friend and colleague who has taught them the importance of paying forward their own experiences.
“Overall, Dr. La France has been invaluable to my growth as a scholar, educator and community member at NIU,” Guzman says. “Just as important, she has taught me how to be successful in my professional life while also developing a better balance with my personal life.”
Date posted: April 18, 2022 | Author: Andrew Pemberton | Comments Off on La France selected for inaugural mentoring award
Evgueni Nesterov has been named a 2022 Northern Illinois University Presidential Research, Scholarship and Artistry Professor.
The award is NIU’s top recognition for outstanding research or artistry. It has been given out annually since 1982 in recognition and support of NIU’s research and artistic mission. Award winners receive special financial support of their research for four years, after which they carry the title of Distinguished Research Professor.
While Nesterov is a professor of chemistry and biochemistry, it wouldn’t be a stretch to liken his work to engineering. Like an engineer, his research group designs and builds things. But rather than large machines or structures, Nesterov works at the nanoscale, creating molecules from the bottom up, and uses them to make novel organic materials.
He is considered a leader and innovator in the field of organic electronic and optoelectronic materials—such materials can be used to make devices that can detect or produce visible and invisible light. His work could have far reaching applications in diverse fields such as organic polymer semiconductors and light-emitting devices and displays, biomedical screening and cancer drug development, detection of industrial pollutants and warfare agents, and environmentally friendly manufacturing practices in the chemical industry.
“Our research group pursues a ‘bottom-up’ approach that starts from a thorough design of a molecule possessing a desired property, and then converting this molecule into a bulk material or device,” Nesterov said.
“The development of functional organic materials is a rapidly growing area of science, which promises to replace traditionally used materials with cheaper and better-performing materials—and often brings about new applications never considered before,” he added.
A native of Russia, Nesterov received his Ph.D. from Moscow State University, the country’s top academic institution. After conducting postdoctoral work in the United States, he served 14 years on the faculty of Louisiana State University, rising to the rank of full professor before coming to NIU in 2018.
As the author of highly-cited peer-reviewed publications in top journals in his field, Nesterov regularly delivers research seminars at major academic institutions. Recently, he was invited to present at a Gordon Research Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry, and at a special award symposium at an American Chemical Society National Meeting.
He also has an outstanding record of continuously uninterrupted research funding from external agencies such as the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation (NSF), which previously awarded him its prestigious CAREER award.
In four years since his arrival at NIU, Nesterov has attracted more than $1.7 million in external research funds and achieved the rare feat of holding multiple federal grants simultaneously. His latest NSF grant provides a critical upgrade to his department in the form of a state-of-the-art 500 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer.
“Professor Nesterov has quickly established himself as one of the top researchers in our department, a valuable colleague, and a modern-day teacher and mentor whose productivity has moved the department’s research profile up several notches,” Chemistry and Biochemistry Chair Ralph Wheeler said.
Wheeler further notes his colleague’s contributions to teaching and committee work. Recently, Nesterov developed and taught Industrial Organic Chemistry, a new graduate course at NIU, and he is the departmental representative to numerous college and university committees and councils.
For his part, Nesterov said he has no plans of slowing down, particularly when it comes to research and scholarship. “For me, this is probably the most exciting time in my career, when I see the seeds I had planted years ago growing into fruit-producing trees,” he said.
“This is also an exciting time for my talented graduate and undergraduate students and hardworking postdoctoral researchers who pursue truly multidisciplinary basic research with clear practical implications,” he added. “They receive an excellent training, making them ready for careers in science and industry.”
Date posted: April 18, 2022 | Author: Andrew Pemberton | Comments Off on Evgueni Nesterov named 2022 Presidential Research, Scholarship and Artistry Professor
Professor Abu Bah has been named a 2022 Northern Illinois University Presidential Research, Scholarship and Artistry Professor.
The award is NIU’s top recognition for outstanding research or artistry. It has been given out annually since 1982 in recognition and support of NIU’s research and artistic mission. Award winners receive special financial support of their research for four years, after which they carry the title of Distinguished Research Professor.
In our turbulent world today, Bah seeks to understand the pathways of peace, having devoted his academic career to research on democracy, nation building, international security and peace and conflict issues. His work spans the fields of history, political science, anthropology and sociology—as well as continents.
“Professor Bah is among the scholars with the highest recognition in his field,” NIU History Professor Ismael Montanasaid. “There is a remarkable breadth to his research publications, which include the politics and policies of countries such as the United States, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Burundi, Morocco, Spain and Bulgaria.”
Originally from Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa, Bah completed his undergraduate degree on a scholarship at the University of Sofia, Bulgaria, carrying out his studies in the Bulgarian language. He earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in sociology from the prestigious New School for Social Research in New York. He speaks six languages.
Early in his career, Bah studied democracy and ethnic political violence in Nigeria, then extended his research to include civil wars and international interventions in Africa and beyond.
“I realized quickly that because democracy is competitive, it actually causes a lot of conflicts, particularly in countries with ethnic and religious divisions,” Bah said.
“Africa has been dealing with those ethnic divides for a long time. It may seem surprising, but I often say the United States—as the country becomes more diverse, society more divided and politics more contentious—will increasing need to learn from Africa about democracy.”
Peers at other institutions recognize Bah as a “brilliant scholar” with a talent for identifying important questions. His publications include a book, a monograph, two edited books and 11 sole-authored peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, as well as many articles published with colleagues. A new book by Bah and Nik Emmanuel of Soka University in Japan focuses on state-building in war-torn African countries and is currently under external review at Oxford University Press.
Bah’s research has been supported by the likes of the Carnegie Foundations and the United Nations. He has been invited to more than 30 speaking engagements worldwide, including at the U.S. State Department and a keynote address at the 2nd International Conference on Heritage and Sustainable Development Goals in Africa, held in Kenya.
Bah serves as African Editor of the journal Critical Sociology, and he led the effort to establish the journal African Conflict & Peacebuilding Review, where he serves as Founding Editor and Editor-in-Chief. It is now the leading journal in its area of study.
Through his research and editorial roles, Bah shapes public policy debates and “knowledge production,” which includes critical reflection on access to the structures that produce knowledge.
“A lot of the knowledge about Africa is produced by people who don’t live there,” Bah said. “Somehow the people who live there must contribute to knowledge about Africa.”
Toward that end, Bah in his editor role has mentored roughly 100 junior scholars publishing in African Conflict & Peacebuilding Review.
“We try to help young African scholars, who often don’t have access to resources we’re accustomed to, so they can meet the high standards of the West,” Bah said. “For me, that is one of the most fulfilling things I have done in the academic world.
Date posted: April 18, 2022 | Author: Andrew Pemberton | Comments Off on Abu Bah named 2022 Presidential Research, Scholarship and Artistry Professor
Mark Schuller has been named a 2022 Northern Illinois University Presidential Research, Scholarship and Artistry Professor.
The award is NIU’s top recognition for outstanding research or artistry. It has been given out annually since 1982 in recognition and support of NIU’s research and artistic mission. Award winners receive special financial support of their research for four years, after which they carry the title of Distinguished Research Professor.
Schuller holds a joint appointment in Anthropology and Nonprofit and NGO Studies. Known particularly for his work in Haiti, his research assesses the effectiveness of NGOs at delivering aid based on their relationships with local communities. Activism and social justice are at the heart of all of his work.
Those same motivations were present as an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota, Morris, where Schuller triple-majored in anthropology, philosophy and sociology. In a global history class, he learned about important revolutions worldwide but was struck by the oversight of Haiti, which won independence from France in 1804 and became the first country to be founded by formerly enslaved people.
“It just got to me that there’s this historical amnesia about Haiti and its contribution to freedom around the world,” said Schuller, who’s now worked in the Caribbean country for two decades.
In 2007, he earned his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and shortly after produced a documentary on Haitian women. Schuller returned to Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake, which claimed 230,000 lives. His subsequent research resulted in the 2012 book, Killing with Kindness: Haiti, International Aid, and NGOs. It won the prestigious Margaret Mead Award from the Society for Applied Anthropology and the American Anthropological Association (AAA).
“Going back after the earthquake charted my course,” Schuller said. “The people I had built relationships with were now living in displacement camps.”
Today he is widely published in top peer-reviewed journals, has published eight books and is often quoted in the news media. He also has over 50 blogs in public venues. For two years during the pandemic, Schuller served as president of the Haitian Studies Association. His work has attracted more than a dozen external grants, including the highly competitive National Science Foundation CAREER award.
“Dr. Schuller has an international reputation in his field and is an amazingly productive scholar whose work has broad impacts.,” Anthropology Chair Leila Porter said.
“His research led to an international campaign to raise the minimum standards that NGOs must meet to work in Haiti. It’s notable, too, that Mark has also helped his colleagues at the State University of Haiti to set up a research lab, a peer-reviewed journal and a series of conferences.”
Schuller has served as a discussant for panels and delivered more than 80 presentations at national and international academic conferences, including four keynotes. He also was recognized by AAA with its Anthropology in the Media Award and by the Haitian Studies Association with the Award for Excellence in Scholarship, an honor that puts him at the very top of his field as recognized by his peers.
“As a species, the warning signs are clear,” Schuller said. “As the creators of this catastrophe, we can turn this around but only by taking deadly seriously the existential threats of climate change, proliferating warfare, xenophobia and racism.”
Despite his many accolades, Schuller is most proud of his students. Five of his undergraduates presented their work at a U.S. Congressional briefing; three graduate students in Haiti published peer-reviewed journal articles; and four of his mentees are BIPOC women, including three Haitian Americans, who are finishing their first years as assistant professors.
Date posted: April 18, 2022 | Author: Andrew Pemberton | Comments Off on Mark Schuller named 2022 Presidential Research, Scholarship and Artistry Professor
For nearly 20 years, Kryssi Staikidis has, through her work as a researcher and an art educator, been asking fundamental questions about how artistic engagement and intercultural exchanges within communities on a global level form bridges of mutual understanding and enable community and educational dialogues.
Named a 2022 Presidential Engagement and Partnerships Professor, Kryssi Staikidis stands before the painting by Paula Nicho Cuméz, Woman Flying (Mujer Volando), 2007, Oil on Canvas.
“How can a more holistic model for teaching art enhance the skills-based methodology in art studios in higher education? How can we steer away from a predominantly Euro-American white male art history that excludes alternative viewpoints and artmaking strategies? How can curricula be modified in ways that penetrate the invisible Eurocentric paradigm that remains at the center of art education pedagogy so we might include multiple perspectives?”
Her work in the classroom, in the community and out in the world makes her an ideal recipient of the NIU Presidential Engagement and Partnership Professorship.
Staikidis has been teaching the NIU School of Art and Design since 2004, and is currently Professor and Head of Art and Design Education. This past year she received the June King McFee Women’s Caucus Award from the National Art Education Association, which honors an individual who has made distinguished contributions to the profession of art education with an exceptional and continuous record of achievement. The award was bestowed in recognition of the lifetime scholarship and global engagement partnership she has maintained with Maya communities in Guatemala and for her many publications and presentations based on lifelong research practice.
Her extensive work with the Maya Tzu’tuhil and Kaqchikel artists of Guatemala resulted in the publication of her book, “Artistic Mentoring as a Decolonizing Methodology” in late 2020. Mentored in painting for 18 years by Guatemala Maya artists Pedro Rafael González Chavajay and Paula Nicho Cúmez, Staikidis used both Indigenous and decolonizing methodologies involving respectful collaboration to continuously reexamine her positions as student, artist and ethnographer as she sought to redefine and transform the roles of artist as mentor, historian/activist, ethnographer and teacher.
“Dr. Staikidis strongly exemplifies the notion of ‘community engagement’ in her deep commitment for bringing Indigenous voices into the classroom and into the larger society,” said Joseph William Johnson, director Arte Maya Tz’utuhil. “I worked with her on several occasions when we arranged for the Maya artists to visit the United States and participate in programs that highlighted their unique roles in preserving a visual record of their cultural traditions. In two programs that Dr. Staikidis organized in Milwaukee and at Northern Illinois University, we worked together closely in selecting from hundreds of original oil paintings that I and others loaned to the exhibits. Her emphasis in the selection process was always on the point of view of the artist and what their vision could teach us about our common humanity. And in such ways, the students who were both directly and indirectly involved in such exhibition and artistic residency programming were also exposed to the vision of the Maya and how we as a university collective could not only learn ourselves but involve external audiences in learning about initiatives that foster understandings of common humanity.”
In 2015 Staikidis was the recipient of the National Art Education Association National J. Eugene Grisby Jr. Award, given annually to an individual who has made distinguished contributions to the field of art education in advancing and promoting the celebration of cultural and ethnic heritage within the global community.
For 17 years, she has overseen the Middle Level Teaching Program, a partnership between the NIU School of Art and Design and St. Mary’s School in DeKalb. The result has been significant public outcomes involving 610 art education university students and 4,250 fourth through eighth grade students. The programming was a direct result of the partnership with the Maya artist-mentors that informed the curriculum design and lessons.
“Dr. Staikidis is committed to her work and committed to giving the best possible education and opportunity that she can to her students and to ours here at St. Mary,” said Marissa Dobie, an eighth-grade teacher and NIU art liaison at St. Mary School. “To say she is passionate about teaching and her love of art is an understatement. She is a diligent problem solver and works to make learning as positive and rewarding as she can for her learners. I have witnessed her compassion as an educator and her great role modeling as a teacher. Dr. Staikidis and her undergraduate and graduate students have been a tremendous resource for our students, allowing them to explore learning in a whole new way.”
Staikidis has also written a book with Christine Ballengee Morris titled “Transforming Our Practices: Indigenous Art, Pedagogies and Philosophies” that is used by professors in higher education nationally as well as PK-12 art educators and is contributing to the transformation of the field through engagement with Indigenous perspectives.
Through a partnership with Conexión Comunidad, the DeKalb Latino Community Center, Staikidis’ NIU pre-service Art and Design Education students formed an intergenerational partnership with Latinx Elders, and Latinx youth. They used Maya pedagogical structures like mentoring as relationship, decentralized teaching, cultural and personal narrative, negotiating curriculum, and a novice expert model to create a large-scale mural based on an Aztec narrative chosen by community members. At the conclusion of the three-year project, Staikidis and her students presented at national and state art education conferences and published a peer-reviewed article in the journal Art Education.
One of those students, Elizabeth Rex, has gone on to become a lecturer in Art Education at Peck School of the Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She was part of both the St. Mary School partnership and the mural project as an undergraduate and graduate student at NIU, and reflected on how Staikidis’ teaching style impacted her as a student and now as an instructor.
“From the first course I took with Kryssi, I was keenly aware of the care she demonstrated toward students, followed closely by the high expectations she set for us,” Rex said. “Kryssi is exceptionally knowledgeable, but also transparent and generous in sharing her own learning journey. She centers her students in the classroom community and spoke often of empowering students by leveling hierarchies between student and teacher. While there was an expectation that issues of social justice and civic engagement were central to the content of the curriculum we developed in her courses and field experiences at St. Mary’s School, for me, some of the most poignant influences were the relational values she expressed outright and modelled, including a commitment to reciprocity in partnerships and community work, fostering joy, and recognizing and valuing the unique stories and strengths of individuals.”
Date posted: April 18, 2022 | Author: Andrew Pemberton | Comments Off on Art and Design Education’s Kryssi Staikidis named 2022 NIU Presidential Engagement and Partnership Professor
When NIU Anthropology Professor Mitchell Irwin first traveled to Madagascar to research lemurs in 2000, that experience changed the course of his professional and personal life. Irwin recognized that protecting threatened ecosystems also required addressing the poverty and lack of economic opportunity that pushed local people to overharvest timber and engage in other practices that damaged the forest ecosystem.
Professor Mitchell Irwin has been named a 2022 NIU Presidential Engagement and Partnerships Professor.
“I developed new relationships with Malagasy scientists and local people, and I encountered the stark reality that I had such privilege and relative wealth while rural Malagasy had so little, yet lived alongside such astounding biological richness ,” Irwin said. “I began to identify as someone for whom research had to ‘do good.’ In short, Madagascar was no longer just an ‘arena’ where my research occurred. It was a second home, a goal and a mission – and I was personally invested in helping its people and ecosystems.”
For the past two decades, Irwin has put that mission into practice – helping to found an elementary school, bring free dental clinics and reproductive health education, and plant 70,000 trees, for example – while also conducting research, guiding graduate and undergraduate students, obtaining grant funding and working to secure protected status for Tsinjoarivo, the region of Madagascar where he conducts research. Along with NIU Biology Professor Karen Samonds and Jean-Luc Raharison (a fellow lemur researcher and graduate of the University of Antananarivo), Irwin founded SADABE, a Madagascar-based NGO dedicated to helping people and wildlife live in harmony in Tsinjoarivo.
For all of this work, Irwin has been recognized as one of the 2022 NIU Presidential Engagement and Partnerships Professors.
Professor Irwin would be the first to say that he has not accomplished any of this alone, and his colleagues in the United States and Madagascar highlight the collaboration and open communication that characterize all of Irwin’s partnerships.
“Any biodiversity/ecosystem conservation project must involve several entities to be successful,” said Dr. Brigitte Raharivololona, head of the Department of Biological Anthropology and Sustainable Development at the University of Antananarivo, Madagascar. “Professor Irwin has always involved the local population, the concerned/competent authorities in his project. He is a man of dialogue; he likes discussing and listens to people; and he only makes decisions after consulting the relevant people.”
For Irwin, partnering with local people and Malagasy scientists – including graduate students studying primatology at universities in Madagascar – is an essential part of every project. In 2013, he began study abroad programs, immersing NIU and Malagasy students side-by-side in primatology and conservation. So far, Irwin has brought 14 graduate and 24 undergraduate NIU students to study in Madagascar, and he has mentored – and helped to secure funding for – dozens of Malagasy students pursuing their master’s or doctoral degrees. He and his partners at SADABE secured funding, built a research station and bought vehicles to allow for ongoing research and ecological monitoring in Tsinjoarivo.
The unique experience of studying abroad at a remote biological research station has been as life changing for many NIU students as it was for Irwin back in his graduate student days.
“Students loved the ‘real research experience’ of being face-to-face with lemurs, as well as the cultural experience of working with local communities,” Irwin said.
Former students – including Katie Heffernan, now an assistant professor at Richard Bland College of William and Mary – gained a more expansive view of research as an opportunity for ongoing engagement with local communities and scholars.
“Upon learning about Madagascar research opportunities, I applied and was accepted into NIU’s Ph.D. program,” Heffernan said. “I participated in the Tsinjoarivo field school in 2014 with other students from the U.S. and from the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar. Needless to say, we all encountered many new experiences that very few people in this world can appreciate. I truly feel that the distinctive opportunities offered by Dr. Irwin and his associates presented new viewpoints which enabled me to understand the larger scope of the world around me. Through this study abroad, I gained insight not only into natural ecosystems and neighboring cultures, but also learned about my myself, which helped me form parts of the basis of my future career as an educator.”
Irwin sees NIU as part of a global community with a responsibility to the wider world. As he looks ahead, he sees conservation of lemur habitat and the support of a new generation of conservation-focused primatologists as his enduring legacy.
“Some primatologists have lived a mainly intellectual existence, but a great many (including many I admire) have become agents and advocates of conservation,” Irwin said. “It’s a question of preservation. It preserves animals and ecosystems whose beauty you admire. It preserves the research subjects for yourself, and your students. And most importantly, it preserves the ecosystems on which local communities rely – for fresh air and water, flood regulation, biodiversity services and forest products.”
Date posted: April 18, 2022 | Author: Andrew Pemberton | Comments Off on Mitchell Irwin named 2022 Presidential Engagement and Partnerships Professor
From his first days as a mechanical engineering professor 15 years ago, Professor Nicholas Pohlman, Ph.D. has maintained a consistent teaching philosophy. The practice of problem solving should guides students “along the circuitous path of learning” that draws upon quantitative and qualitative reasoning. Rather than simply repeating a complicated tasks students should work to achieve “internal conceptualization of the topic in the student’s own mind.”
Nicholas Pohlman has been named a 2022 Northern Illinois University Presidential Teaching Professor.
It was his teaching philosophy and so much more that earned him the award of NIU Presidential Teaching Professor for 2022.
“We are extremely proud of the work that Dr. Pohlman has achieved at NIU and his teaching style that has had tremendous impact on our students over the years,” said CEET Dean Donald Peterson, Ph.D. “He is truly deserving of the recognition, financial support and release time to enhance his teaching skills even further.”
Pohlman uses the analogy of a lantern to explain his teaching philosophy. “By helping illuminate the path of knowledge for students, I hope to teach them the means for taking not only the short steps to proceed along a particular known path, but also the tools that they may use to effectively point their searchlight in new directions,” he said. “It is through innovation and creativity that engineers and scientist may continue to expand the paths on the current map of knowledge.”
His style has proven to be successful, as his students consistently rate his classes very high on their course evaluations. In fact, more than seventy-five percent of the courses he teaches have scored over 4.5 on a 5-point scale, which is higher than the department average.
Pohlman’s former students have shed some light on this history of stellar evaluations. Alumnus Thomas Corbett ’19 was inspired by Pohlman to continue his education and is currently a doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering at Pennsylvania State University. Corbett hopes to “follow Dr. Pohlman’s example and become a professor.”
Alumnus Matthew McCoy ’21, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, was also inspired by Pohlman to pursue a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering and is attending the Georgia Institute of Technology.
McCoy and Corbett agreed that Pohlman is deserving of the Presidential Teaching Professorship “due to his continued support of his students, his passion and excellence in teaching, and high expectations of the engineering program. He single handedly raises the bar for what it means to be an engineer, regardless of the institution. These qualities and more make him not just an exemplary educator, but also an incredible mentor that any student would be lucky to interact with,” they said.
In addition to teaching, Pohlman also shines outside the classroom. He is actively engaged in broad range of research from fundamental granular flows and biomass utilization to engineering solutions for high energy physics experiments. He advising multiple undergraduate and graduate student projects that contributed to last spring’s landmark finding at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia. The findings at Fermi Lab included first results from the Muon g-2 experiment that made headlines worldwide.
Mechanical Engineering Department Chair and Professor Tariq Shamim, Ph.D. said that Pohlman “is an excellent teacher and is one of our most dedicated and highly respected teachers. He demonstrates an excellent proficiency to adopt and implement new teaching pedagogy. He has been actively implementing student centered learning and adoption of teaching and learning technology in his classroom.”
Pohlman has earned many awards including Credential in Effective College Instruction, Awarded by the Association of College and University Educators and the American Council on Education in 2021. As a result of helping align the CEET Honors criteria with the University Honors Program, he won the Innovation Certificate of Recognition from NIU’s Division of Research and Innovation Partnerships and University Honors Program Great Professor Award in 2014. The college recognized his teaching efforts early in his career naming him Faculty of the Year in 2009 and 2012.
Fellow professor Iman Salehinia, Ph.D. concurred that Pohlman has a bright future in teaching and is deserving of the award because “of his passion in engineering education, extreme care and patience for his students, constant support for his colleagues, the department, and the college, and steady effort for professional development in teaching.”
Date posted: April 18, 2022 | Author: Andrew Pemberton | Comments Off on Mechanical Engineering Professor Nicholas Pohlman named Presidential Teaching Professor
The term “holistic” is defined as “relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems” by Miriam-Webster Dictionary. This definition also explains how Engineering Technology Professor Shanthi Muthuswamy, Ph.D. approaches her philosophy of teaching. She not only imparts the knowledge and skills required for her engineering technology students, but she is also invested in their overall well-being.
Shanthi Muthuswamy has been named a Northern Illinois University 2022 Presidential Teaching Professor.
This is one of the many reasons Professor Muthuswamy has earned the distinction of Presidential Teaching Professor for 2022. This award is granted each year by NIU’s President Lisa Freeman to faculty who have demonstrated commitment in their role as instructor and have achieved a tremendous amount of success in all areas of teaching.
“We thank Dr. Muthuswamy for her dedication to teaching and commitment to our students that she has shown over the years. She is very deserving of the recognition that this award represents,” said CEET Dean Donald Peterson, Ph.D. “The award includes financial support and release time to use to enhance their teaching skills. We are excited to see what she will accomplish in the future.”
Muthuswamy first came to NIU as a graduate student from India. After graduation, she worked in the industry for a few years and then returned to NIU in 2010 to teach in the Engineering Technology Department and has been teaching ever since. In 2016, she was named the Faculty of the Year for Excellence in Undergraduate Education by the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology (CEET).
“Graduate school experience at NIU made me competent, confident and taught me to give back to the society,” she said. “Wherever I went, I carried the memories of NIU with me and I was thrilled to return home as an assistant professor.”
Shortly after becoming a professor she came to realize the tremendous level of stress that her students were experiencing, which she feared could hinder their ability to learn. Out of concern for her students and to ease their stress she developed a “holistic content delivery method” that addresses the whole student. Her method includes five strategies; the first strategy includes “the gift of time” where she begins each semester with a short individual meeting with each student.
Next, at the beginning of each class she leads her class in a 3-minute meditative breathing session. The third includes the use of smart phone friendly 5-minute solution videos she developed that cover basic engineering concepts required for her courses. In fact, she was awarded the NIU’s David W. Raymond Award in 2020 for her “5- Minute Solutions” video series. The video series combined with the cartoon and fiction based learning is an engaging way to present complicated concepts.
The fourth and fifth strategies involve tools to help her students understand and comprehend material, such as the use of cartoon/fiction based learning and the use of short breaks called Short Term Memory Assessment of Reviewed Topics, or SMART breaks, where students collaborate on problems.
Her meditative breathing sessions have become popular among her students, and well-known throughout the department. “This novel teaching aid helps students to focus and be more attentive and interactive in class and has been well-received,” said Engineering Technology Professor Robert Tatara, Ph.D. “In fact, a student requested the breathing exercises to be done before quizzes, and now the exercises take place before all quizzes and examinations. Additionally, she has received feedback that many students have adapted these breathing techniques on a day-to-day basis in dealing with work/life balance issues during the pandemic.”
“She finds creative ways to bring equity amongst students and ensures learners with disabilities/challenges are also provided with an equal opportunity to grasp challenging engineering technology concepts through cartoons, video clips, varied teaching modalities,” said Engineering Technology Professor Ted Hogan, Ph.D.
Her creative and holistic teaching methods have consistently achieved a score of 4-5 on a 5-point scale ratings from students in their course evaluations.
“She made me realize that I could achieve anything I wanted to achieve in my life if I worked hard and stayed consistent,” said former graduate student Dago Cantellan, and Shift Supervisor for Sonoco Products, Chicago-DuPage. “As a minority, I was able to identify with Dr. Muthuswamy. “She challenged me to become the best version of me, made me believe in myself, helped me restore my self-confidence, and gave me a sense of belonging; something I had never felt before.”
In addition to her exemplary teaching methods, she also gives back to her community and industry. She was the first woman of color to join the College Industry Council on Material Handling Education’s (CICMHE) executive committee as a vice president and is currently the President for CICMHE and also serves in the Material Handling Institute’s(MHI) DEI advisory committee. As part of the committee she initiated a monthly mentorship program to pair members of MHI with minority student chapters across the country such as Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Society of Women Engineers and the National Society of Black Engineers. The first session will be piloted at NIU on April 28.
“In Dr. Muthuswamy’s class, students appreciate the rigor of her classes and how she combines active learning with lectures. They find her style of teaching inspiring,” said Acting Chair of the Department of Engineering Technology Shun Takai, Ph.D. “Although some of her courses are math intensive and challenging the students are able to assimilate the theories and concepts well by solving at least one or two simple and complex problems for all key concepts in an interactive team setting.”
The Presidential Teaching Professorship and awards previously mentioned are among many awards she has won including the following from NIU:
Wilma D. Stricklin award for exemplary leadership/service to improve campus climate for women (NIU, 2019).
Certificate of Excellence in Online Teaching (CITL, 2021)
She has also earned awards and achievements from outside the university including:
Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) Teaching Fellow (2021).
Top 10 finalist of the global award – Airbus GEDC Diversity Award for Engineering Education (2018).
Date posted: April 18, 2022 | Author: Andrew Pemberton | Comments Off on Engineering Technology Professor Shanthi Muthuswamy named Presidential Teaching Professor
Spend a few minutes reviewing letters supporting History Professor Beatrix Hoffman for a Board of Trustee Professorship and you’ll quickly find you need more time—there were more than a dozen lengthy testimonials to the quality of both her teaching and scholarship.
Beatrix Hoffman has been named a Northern Illinois University Board of Trustees Professor.
Most importantly, it’s clear her students, colleagues and peers view her as a significant presence both in her field and in the classroom. During her varied career, she’s balanced scholarly accomplishment with mentoring and support in the classroom.
“Throughout my graduate education at NIU, Beatrix demonstrated a concern and interest in my mental health as an international graduate student navigating a new academic terrain,” said NIU graduate student Matilda Ansah. “She stands out because she shows genuine interest in the career trajectory of her students and makes substantial contributions to enable growth.”
Professor Hoffman earned her Ph.D. from Rutgers University and focuses her research on the history of the U.S. health care system, health inequality and health justice. She’s a prolific instructor at NIU, having taught a variety of courses, including the history of health and medicine in the U.S.; the history of Chicago; U.S. Latino history; U.S. Constitutional History; and American History Since 1865.
Both nationally and internationally, you’ll find Professor Hoffman impacting her field. She’s published numerous articles in the U.S. and Great Britain and is a sought-after expert on U.S. health care. She works to share her research with a variety of audiences, and to connect medical history with current events.
She’s earned research grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, among others, and has served as guest curator for two exhibitions with the National Library of Medicine. Her third single-authored book, “Borders of Care: A History of Immigration and the Right to Health Care,” is under contract with the University of Chicago Press.
Martin Gorsky, Professor of History at the Centre for History in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine says, “From an international perspective, Beatrix Hoffman is regarded as the ‘go to’ academic with expertise on the contemporary history of the American health systems in comparative context. In a field that tends to be nationally inward-looking, she is also a scholar who addresses a global health audience, both practically and intellectually.”
LeNie Adolphson first met Dr. Hoffman as an NIU undergraduate, taking her course in the history of medicine. Now a doctoral student in history at NIU, she says the professor has had a profound impact on her career and life.
“Dr. Hoffman embodies excellence in research, teaching, mentoring and, above all, tireless devotion to her students,” she notes. “She represents the finest qualities of Northern Illinois University and I can think of no one more deserving of such an honor.”
Date posted: April 18, 2022 | Author: Andrew Pemberton | Comments Off on History Professor Beatrix Hoffman named 2022 Board of Trustees Professor
In a nearly unanimous vote earlier this term, the executive leadership of the United Greek Council rolled out a rebranding as the Multicultural Greek Council in time to recruit for the coming academic year.
