Cornell President Hunter Rawlings has named the university's 2000 Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellows, recognizing effective, inspiring and distinguished teaching of undergraduate students.
The winners are: Jeffrey J. Haugaard, associate professor and director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Human Development, College of Human Ecology; Kenneth C. Hover, professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering; and Deborah H. Streeter, the Bruce F. Failing Sr. Professor of Personal Enterprise in the Department of Agricultural, Resource and Managerial Economics, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The awards -- $5,000 for five years for each faculty member -- are named for the emeritus chair of the Cornell Board of Trustees, Stephen H. Weiss '57, who endowed the program. The award recognizes excellence in teaching, advising and outstanding efforts toward instructional improvement and development. The appointed fellows are permitted to hold the title of Weiss fellow simultaneously with any other named professorship.
A dinner on campus Oct. 26 honored both the Weiss fellows and the 2000 recipients of another distinguished faculty award -- the Appel Fellowships for Humanists and Social Scientists in the College of Arts and Sciences. The Appel fellows, named in the spring of 2000, are: Ellis Hanson, an associate professor of English; Natalie A. Melas, an associate professor of comparative literature; and Mary J. Roldán, an associate professor of history.
Established in 1995 by Helen and Robert Appel, the fellowships support newer faculty in the humanities and social sciences who demonstrate excellence in teaching and show great promise as scholars. They enable recipients to take a year's sabbatical leave, at full salary, to write, develop new courses, conduct research or otherwise enrich their teaching and scholarship.
Here are brief biographies of the winners of both fellowships:
Jeffrey J. Haugaard
Haugaard came to Cornell in 1990 as an assistant professor in the Department of Human Development. Among the courses he teaches are Children, Psychology and the Law; Problematic Behavior in Adolescence; and Nontraditional Families and Troubled Families. His current research is focused on the ways in which families that adopt or provide foster care for school-age children develop, and interventions in coercive dating or romantic relationships.
He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and politics from the University of California-Santa Cruz, a master's in marriage, family and child therapy from Santa Clara University, and a master's in psychology and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Virginia.
Haugaard has gained a reputation for being an exciting teacher and mentor, and comments from his students have included the following:
·"What makes Professor Haugaard an exemplary professor is his commitment to helping students both inside and outside of the classroom."
·"Professor Haugaard became my informal adviser and I am lucky enough to have had the opportunity to interact with him outside the class through his 'take your professor to lunch program.'"
·"To us he is more than an academic, adviser or administrator. Professor Haugaard is someone who has a genuine interest in students and their experiences at Cornell."
Kenneth C. Hover
Hover first came to Cornell in 1982 as an Exxon Teaching Fellow and Ph.D. candidate, and he earned his Ph.D. in structural engineering here, with a minor in materials science, in 1984 and became an associate professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering that same year. His undergraduate classes explore concrete design and materials, covering chemistry and physics of fresh and hardened concrete as well as construction techniques.
Hover received his bachelor of science in civil engineering and his master's degree from the University of Cincinnati.
Remarks gathered from Hover's students include the following:
·"I could always count on him. He would respect my questions and more importantly, respect me."
·"He is available for help and advice in the classroom, in his office and even on the sidelines the day of our great concrete canoe race."
·"He grabs his students' attention with fascinating stories and humor and holds it as he explains complicated theories with ease."
Deborah H. Streeter
Streeter began her career at Cornell in 1985 as an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, now known as the Department of Agricultural, Resource and Managerial Economics. She teaches a number of business courses, including Personal Enterprise and Small Business Management, and Small Business Management Workshop. In 1995, she was named the Bruce F. Failing Sr. Professor of Personal Enterprise.
She earned a bachelor's degree in Portuguese/Latin American Studies from the University of Connecticut and changed fields to receive her master's and Ph.D. in agricultural economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Streeter's students are enthusiastic about her teaching and the way she integrates real-world situations and problems into her lectures. Students say:
·"She encourages students to 'learn by doing' and her classes involve hands-on interaction with business professionals."
·"She understands the importance of group dynamics. She incorporates working in teams, giving us a real-life experience, useful in the business world."
·"There are so many incredible lecturers and gifted scholars at Cornell, but the truly special ones are those who genuinely care for their students; who are interested in their students' aspirations and in seeing them fulfill their dreams. It seems to come naturally to Professor Streeter."
Ellis Hanson
Hanson began his career at Cornell as an assistant professor of English in 1995 and became chair of the steering committee of the Gay Studies Program in 1996. He teaches a popular freshman writing seminar as well as courses on the 19th-century British novel and gay and lesbian fiction.
His classes encourage debate in the area of film theory and the issues of cinematic formalism and aesthetic particularities of film as distinct from text, and image as distinct from narrative.
He received his bachelor's degree from Vassar College, a master's from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from Princeton University.
Among the laudatory comments from his students are these:
·"Many of the themes in the literature in this course were provocative in nature. Professor Hanson was aware that each student brought his or her own sensitivities to the subject matter. He made it easy for us to talk in an open forum."
·"After taking a class with Professor Hanson, my only regret was not attempting a double major including English literature during my Cornell career."
Natalie A. Melas
Melas began her Cornell career in 1994 as an assistant professor in the Department of Comparative Literature. In addition to teaching freshman writing seminars, she introduces undergraduates to such courses as Global Fictions, and Europe and Its Others: The Literature of Colonialism.
She received a bachelor's degree in classics and comparative literature from Brown University and a Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of California-Berkeley. Between degrees she spent a year studying at the American University in Cairo on a Rotary Fellowship that prompted the central interest of her research and teaching: the influence of colonialism on cultural comparison.
Melas' undergraduate students praised her with comments such as:
·Combining originality, breadth of knowledge and impressive linguistic abilities, she demystified placing works of literature in a truly international context."
And one of her graduate students said:
·"Her capacity to shift our assumptions, to challenge our most accepted paradigms, by simply rephrasing her line of questioning, reminds me why it is meaningful and exciting to be a graduate student."
Mary Roldán
Roldán came to Cornell in 1991 as a lecturer in Latin American history and was named an assistant professor in 1992. In 1997-1998 , she was a research fellow at the Centro Para los Estudios Cafeteros y Empresariales in Colombia. She is a recipient of numerous grants, most recently a Society for the Humanities summer research grant. Her classes in Latin American history keep students engaged in topics that range from the colonial to the modern era, art and politics, resistance movements, the urban construction of citizenship in Latin America, and the forming of a nation.
Roldán received a bachelor's degree in history from Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges and a Ph.D. in Latin American History from Harvard University.
Her students have been impressed with her commitment to meaningful teaching. Their comments include:
·"Professor Roldán combines her broad and deep understanding of Latin American history with a passion for exploring ideas critically and collaboratively with students."
·"She has inspired me to pursue a career in academia and has served as a role model for the type of professor I hope to become."
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