Annual award winners announced

By Nancy Wick
University Week

Winners of the annual awards given by the University have been announced. The 20 individuals and two units - including one unit that has won two awards - are being honored for outstanding teaching, mentoring and service.

Distinguished Teaching Awards are being given this year to Chris Diorio, Computer Science & Engineering; Robyn Hunt, School of Drama; Ronald Irving, Mathematics; Biren Nagda, School of Social Work; Mary Pat Wenderoth, Zoology; Andrea Kovalesky, Nursing (Bothell); and Jose Rios, Education (Tacoma). Distinguished Teaching Awards are given to University faculty who show a mastery of their subject matter, intellectual rigor, lively curiosity, a commitment to research and a passion for teaching. Each winner receives $5,000.

Two teaching assistants are also being honored with Excellence in Teaching Awards, given for instructional excellence as a TA. They are John Armstrong, Astronomy; and Kathleen Cook, Psychology. Each will receive $2,500.

Judith Howard, Sociology, has been chosen for the Graduate Mentor Award, recognizing faculty members who have made outstanding contributions to the education and guidance of graduate students. And Margaret Levi, Political Science, has won the S. Sterling Munro Public Service Teaching Award, given to a faculty member demonstrating exemplary leadership in community-based instruction, including service learning, public-service internships and community-partnership projects. Both award winners will receive $5,000.

Five staff members are being honored with the Distinguished Staff Awards, given to staff who have made outstanding contributions to the mission of their unit or the University. Cited for responding creatively to challenges, maintaining the highest standards in their work, establishing productive working relationships and promoting a respectful and supportive workplace were Roxana Augusztiny, acting director, The Burke Museum; Pedro Borrayo-Alatorre, custodian, Custodial Services; David Duggins, marine technologist, Friday Harbor Labs; Sinh Simmons, manager, Grant & Contract Services; and Susanna Westen, program coordinator, Slavic Languages & Literature. All will receive $5,000.

Charles Mock, assistant professor of surgery at Harborview and principal investigator for the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network at Harborview’s Injury Prevention and Research Center, is the winner of the Outstanding Public Service Award, given to a faculty or staff member to honor the recipient’s extensive local and/or national public service. Mock will receive $5,000.

This year’s Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus is Joseph Sutter, a 1943 graduate of the University who retired from the Boeing Company as executive vice president in 1986 and now serves as a consultant to Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. This award is the highest honor the UW can bestow on a graduate and recognizes service and achievement over the course of a lifetime. Sutter, who is often referred to as the “father of the 747,” has contributed greatly to the advancement of commercial jet transport aviation.

The Alumni Association will bestow its Alumni Distinguished Service Award on Donald Kraft, a retired advertising executive. Kraft has been an active volunteer at the UW, serving in the past as the alumni association president and on the Tyee Board, among other things.

Two Brotman Awards for Instructional Excellence - recognizing collaboration within and among departments, programs and groups that improves the quality of undergraduate education - are being given this year. One goes to the Interdisciplinary Writing Program, a program under the auspices of the Department of English that links writing courses to subject area courses in a wide variety of departments. The other honors the Instructional Center, an arm of the Office of Minority Affairs that provides tutoring and other services to minority and disadvantaged students at the University. The two programs will each receive $17,500.

The Instructional Center is also the recipient of the University’s newest award, the Brotman Diversity Award, which recognizes outstanding programs that advance diversity in the UW community. The center will receive $35,000 for that award.

Neal Dempsey III will receive the UW Recognition Award, given to people whose major contributions of unique services and efforts have had an impact on the University and the community. Dempsey, a general partner in Bay Management Company, recently donated $10 million to the University - half of which went to athletics and the other half to the Business School.

All the winners will be honored at the annual Recognition Ceremony, scheduled for 3 p.m., Thursday, June 7 in Meany Hall. The ceremony is open to the public, and members of the University community are encouraged to attend. University Week will publish a special supplement detailing the winners’ accomplishments on May 24.