Recognizing scholarship, service and teaching. Rewarding excellence.
Distinguished Teaching Award
The Distinguished Teaching Award recognizes a Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences faculty member for her/his commitment to students and exceptional performance in teaching as evaluated by both students and peers and as evidenced by activities promoting high-quality teaching in the division or college.
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2021 WINNER: Sepideh (Sam) Soheilian
Since joining UBalt as an assistant professor in 2017, Sam Soheilian has strived, in her own words, to create an “inclusive and culturally [respectful]” classroom; her deep investment in “diversity, service, and justice” has clearly paid dividends for her students. Many of those students wrote admiringly of Soheilian as a professor who rejects any “one-size-fits-all” approach and consciously adopts a more “multicultural lens.” One student reflected that they were impressed by Prof. Soheilian’s “knowledge of the multicultural, social justice, and diversity literatures, and what they mean for us as future therapists”; “Her commitments are real,” they concluded. Those commitments extend to the students themselves, many of whom spoke of Prof. Soheilian’s reassuring presence in moments of crisis or confusion. One student, who affirmed that “Each course … with Dr. S has been nothing short of monumental,” explained how Prof. Soheilian “use[d] her personal experience and words of encouragement to remind me of my worth” after the student had questioned her own purpose as a woman of color in the field of psychology. Fittingly, Prof. Soheilian’s colleagues describe her as “engaged, compassionate, and flexible”—“a teacher’s teacher [who] raises all ships around her.” The crisis and confusion of the past eighteen months have only highlighted her empathy and adaptability, with students praising the “space” she afforded them during lockdown and with colleagues commending her for undertaking extensive telepsychology training that she brought into the classroom. Prof. Soheilian is a distinguished teacher in this trying time and at all times.
Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Activities Award
The Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Activities Award recognizes a Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences faculty member who has been judged to be distinguished in scholarly or creative activities. Awarded every other year.
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2021 WINNER: Sharon Glazer
In the words of one of Prof. Glazer’s supporters, summing up her work is “both difficult and easy”: it is difficult to “do justice … to the depth and breadth of her scholarly achievements,” and “easy, because … anyone can see that her CV is bursting with evidence of how extraordinary and sustained these achievements have been.” Indeed, Prof. Glazer’s scholarship is as prodigious as it is prestigious. Over the past three years, she has collaborated on multiple grants, shepherded several books to publication as a series editor, presented at some two dozen conferences, delivered ten invited talks, and authored or co-authored seven peer-reviewed articles in major journals and five chapters in edited collections (often alongside her students). The same supporter likened Prof. Glazer to “a beautiful and generous pine tree, constantly branching out into new and impactful scholarly projects, reaching for each new challenge”; another emphasized that Prof. Glazer’s reach is international—often intentionally so, with her groundbreaking and wide-ranging focus on cross-cultural organizational psychology. Prof. Glazer is an indefatigable scholar—“a role model,” as her nominator said, “of continuing inquiry and deep contribution to one’s discipline.” It’s only fitting, then, that Prof. Glazer may miss her own award because she’s busy chairing a panel at the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology’s annual conference; on she goes.
Outstanding Staff Award
The Outstanding Staff Award recognizes a Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences full-time staff member who has been judged to provide excellent and significant contributions to the success of the college. The primary criterion is one of impact, requiring substantial evidence that a nominee's efforts have had a significant positive effect on the college and/or on the University.
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2021 WINNER: Sonja Journee
In her role as the college’s business services specialist, Sonja Journee has managed adjunct contracts, scheduling, and administrative support with unfailing reliability and a steadfast professionalism. Her nominator, who pointed out that Ms. Journee has been with CAS “since before it was CAS,” wrote that she is the “epitome” of a colleague “who makes everyone’s job easier by doing hers 100%”—an “assuring presence,” for sure, and a “pleasure to work and converse with.”
Outstanding Adjunct Teaching Award
The Outstanding Adjunct Teaching Award recognizes a Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences adjunct faculty member who has been judged for excellence in teaching.
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2021 WINNER: Susan Beam
Susan Cherie Beam has taught widely and to much acclaim in the college’s English and Writing Programs since 2013, with one of her students citing her “profound impact” and willingness to go “above and beyond [her] duties.” Prof. Beam’s service to UBalt bears that impression out: during her time in the college, she has generously shared teaching materials, developed curriculum and redesigned courses, and worked on promoting open educational resources. Prof. Beam’s work far exceeds the remit of an adjunct instructor, and she is, as her nominator wrote, “deeply committed to UBalt students, to the division, to the college, and to the University.”
Distinguished Service Award
*awarded every other year
The Distinguished Service Award recognizes a Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences faculty member who, while in the employment of the University of Baltimore, has given outstanding service to the University and/or to the community. The primary criterion is one of impact, requiring substantial evidence that a nominee's service activities have had a significant positive effect on the community and/or the University. The scope of a faculty member's service activities is a second criterion, requiring substantial evidence that the nominee's professional life has been characterized by a commitment to service activities as opposed to a one-time major involvement in such activity. In addition to evidence of a pattern of service over time, there should also be evidence of recent and/or current service contributions. Awarded every other year.