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Award for Outstanding Contributions to Graduate and Professional Education

Since 1998-1999, the University of Minnesota has recognized a select group of faculty members for their outstanding contributions to graduate and/or professional education. This honor is awarded annually to exceptional candidates nominated by their colleges in their quest to identify excellence in graduate and/or professional education. In addition to honoring individual faculty members, the award contributes to the improvement of graduate and professional education at the University by publicizing their work to serve as resources to the whole faculty.

The award is made possible through generous support of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association and the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost.

Look here for more information about the Graduate-Professional Award.

Congratulations to the 2019 Award Recipients

James W. Begun
Health Policy & Management
School of Public Health

Professor James Begun is nationally recognized for his scholarship and leadership in making professional education more student-centered by building curricula around the knowledge, skills, and values required for effective workplace performance. For more than two decades, his engagement with students in management and leadership courses at the University of Minnesota has fostered the careers of thousands of graduates and significantly enhanced their ability to make a positive and significant difference in their organizations and communities.

Daniel Boley
Computer Science & Engineering
College of Science & Engineering

Professor Daniel Boley is an outstanding leader in interdisciplinary graduate education at the University of Minnesota with a long and distinguished history of development of graduate programs, classroom teaching, and graduate student advising. He has been the lead developer and founding director of the successful Data Science graduate program, which provides a framework for students and faculty throughout the University to work together on mutually beneficial research projects.

Ann Hill Duin
Writing Studies
College of Liberal Arts

Professor Duin is an outstanding leader of graduate education. In 1992, she led the development of our MA and PhD graduate programs. In addition, Professor Duin has provided exceptional leadership for our professional MS and graduate certificate programs, increasing enrollment and reforming the programs to include online delivery with thoughtfulness and rigor. She has developed strong innovations such as a research collaboratory and advisory board to foster active mentoring and publishing with graduate students.

Megan R. Gunnar
Institute of Child Development
College of Education & Human Development

Megan R. Gunnar, Regents Professor and chair of the Institute of Child Development, studies the neurobiology of stress and its regulation by relationships from infancy through adolescence. Dr.Gunnar has dedicated nearly 40 years of exceptional instruction and program leadership to graduate education at the University of Minnesota. During her tenure, Gunnar has developed new courses and graduate programs while advising and matriculating over 35 students through the Child Psychology PhD program. She has received life-time achievement awards from the American Psychological Association, the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology, and the Society for Child Development. In 2017, Professor Gunnar was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education.

Monica Luciana
Psychology
College of Liberal Arts

Monica Luciana is a Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Psychology at the University of Minnesota. For over 20 years she has served as an inspiring and impactful mentor to dozens of doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows pursing research on how the brain and behavior interact in the context of psychopathology. As chair of the Psychology Department she initiated transformative changes to the graduate program that fostered greater equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Susan O'Conner-Von
Nursing
School of Nursing

Professor O’Conner-Von is a much beloved University of Minnesota “Beacon of Educational Excellence.” Her excellence spreads beyond the boundaries of the School of Nursing, extending brilliant leadership as DGS of interdisciplinary graduate and professional programs of the Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing. Her transformational teaching influences students by nurturing their intellectual, ethical and emotional development. Through her design of powerful, engaging “exquisite” learning environments, she reaches student hearts and there leaves her indelible mark.

Julie Schumacher
English
College of Liberal Arts

Julie Schumacher is not only a world-famous writer but also the dynamic force behind the top-ranked Creative Writing Program at the University of Minnesota. She transformed a small, local program into a program widely recognized as among the top 10 in the country. Students uniformly attest to the lifelong commitment that she makes to the success of her MFA advisees.

Larry F. Wolff
Developmental & Surgical Sciences
School of Dentistry

Professor Larry Wolff has demonstrated his commitment as a dedicated teacher, clinical educator and scholar at the University of Minnesota. His continuing passion and enthusiasm for presenting quality, informative and thought provoking lectures and clinical instruction in the School of Dentistry is evidenced by nine teaching awards and also the Century Club Professor of the Year Award acknowledging his outstanding teaching. Dr. Wolff’s tenure has been recognized for exemplary graduate and professional education.

2018 Award Recipients

Victor H. Barocas
Biomedical Engineering
College of Science & Engineering
Professor Barocas has spent that last 17 years contributing to graduate education at UMN through his role as a classroom teacher, a mentor for M.S. and Ph.D. students, the Director of Graduate Studies for Biomedical Engineering, and a member of the Graduate Education Councils for the College of Science and Engineering and for the University. He is a strong advocate for students and a promoter of student opportunity and diversity.
Bradley G. Clary
Law School
In his thirty-six years of teaching here (including eighteen years of full time teaching), Professor Clary has directed and developed the Law School’s legal writing, appellate advocacy, and trial practice programs. He has educated thousands of students, authored or co-authored five different teaching texts, and served the University, the State of Minnesota, and the national legal community in multiple ways. Teachers don’t come any better.
E. Dan Dahlberg
School of Physics and Astronomy
College of Science & Engineering
Professor Dahlberg has mentored over 25 PhD graduates since joining the faculty of the University of Minnesota. These physicists have gone on to careers in academia as well as a wide spectrum of industrial environments, including their own companies. This success has been enabled by Professor Dahlberg’s unique advising style, which is based on establishing an intellectual partnership with his graduate students while developing a full portfolio of technical and communication skills.
Barbara E. Martinson
Design, Housing, and Apparel
College of Design

Barbara Martinson is a Professor of graphic Design and the Director of Graduate Studies for the Design Graduate Program. She has been instrumental in developing graduate degree plans for the MFA and Ph.D. degrees. She works with her graduate students on issues of visual communication for safety, health, and well-being. Teaching and designing pedagogy are her primary research areas.
Chris Paola
Earth Sciences
College of Science & Engineering
Professor Paola is an innovative teacher and researcher who has mentored many graduate students to success, prioritized excellence in graduate education through leadership of research centers, co-created a unique graduate course in stream restoration, and established an international faculty-graduate student exchange program. He shares his most promising ideas with students, emphasizing cooperation and high ethical standards. He encourages risk-taking, learning from failure, and looking foolish in the service of curiosity, improvisational thought, and creative inquiry.
Robert E. Porter
Veterinary Population Medicine
College of Veterinary Medicine
Professor Porter is a beloved teacher who inspires students through infectious enthusiasm and creative approaches. He fearlessly explores new techniques and technology to the great benefit of learners. He is an award winning course coordinator who has led a diverse faculty team to outstanding results. He shares his expertise in poultry pathology through the formation of collaborative partnerships to benefit learners in the state and region. He leads through his scholarly approach.
Alexander J. Rothman
Psychology
College of Liberal Arts

Professor Rothman has demonstrated dedication to graduate education through mentorship, teaching and program development. Through his approach to graduate training he provides students with the skills and inspiration to design and pursue lines of work that have an impact on their discipline as well as on practice and policy. As Associate Dean for Graduate Education, he established innovative programs and policies to support graduate programs across CLA and secured increased resources to support graduate students.
Barbara Young Welke
History and Law
College of Liberal Arts and Law School
In her twenty years at the University of Minnesota, graduate and professional teaching, advising, and mentoring have been central to Professor Welke’s mission. Through the Program in Law and History, leadership of the Hurst Institute, and other initiatives, she has made the University of Minnesota a premier institution for the training of legal historians, and as Director of Graduate Studies she made programmatic changes that left a lasting positive legacy for History Ph.D. students.

2017 Award Recipients

Eray S. Aydil
Chemical Engineering & Materials Science
College of Science & Engineering

Eray Aydil demonstrates exceptional graduate instruction and mentorship, which he achieves by combining his natural pedagogical gifts, personal and professional humility, ethical code, and penetrating sincerity. He inspires, empowers and motivates the PhD students in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science.
Jim Boulger
Biobehavioral Health & Population Sciences, Medical School
University of Minnesota Duluth

Jim Boulger’s impact on the medical students of the University of Minnesota Medical School Duluth campus is legendary. His contributions as a teacher and mentor span five decades and have significantly influenced rural medical education and positively impacted the health of Minnesota’s rural citizens. Throughout his long career, Jim’s energetic engagement with medical students and the curriculum have reinforced the expectation that our students will ultimately serve rural or Native American communities.
Mark L. Davison
Educational Psychology
College of Education & Human Development

Professor Davison’s accomplishments include authorship of the first Graduate Student Handbook for the then new Department of Educational Psychology, creation of two endowed student assistantships, a $5,000,000 federally funded pre-doctoral training program, mentorship of students in a K-12 educational accountability center, and an online research symposium for faculty and graduate students involving five universities (Universities of Alberta, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, and Nebraska). Students with whom he has worked have taken eminent positions throughout the world.
Susan Goodwin Gerberich
Environmental Health Sciences
School of Public Health

Susan Gerberich is the Leon S. Robertson Professor of Injury Prevention, Mayo Professor of Public Health, and Director of the Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety Education and Research Center in the School of Public Health. She is an internationally recognized injury epidemiologist who developed and continues to lead a successful graduate academic research program. She has mentored dozens of graduate students, conducted extensive student-involved research, and demonstrated graduate teaching excellence.
Kathleen Krichbaum
Population Health Systems
School of Nursing

Kathleen Krichbaum is a master teacher, mentor and scholar who has had a transformational influence on her students and on nursing education. She has developed curricula; designed methods for evaluating program quality and for assessing clinical competencies used by her students and peers, as well as by schools of nursing throughout the country. She is a recognized thought leader who infuses creativity and innovation into designing strategies to improve how nurses teach and practice.
Kathryn Reyerson
History
College of Liberal Arts

Kathryn Reyerson is an outstanding teacher and stellar mentor who has helped shape the research agendas and professional careers of large numbers of graduate students. She has been a pivotal figure in the graduate program in medieval and early modern history, especially because of her critical work in developing the Center for Medieval Studies at the University of Minnesota.
Katherine West Scheil
English
College of Liberal Arts

Katherine West Scheil teaches innovative graduate courses to bring students into active conversation with the most urgent, cutting-edge topics in the Humanities. As Director of Graduate Studies in English for five years, she spearheaded new initiatives to enhance teaching;, significantly increased resources for student research support, and launched a program of professional development. Her awareness of the challenges and pleasures of graduate education motivates her to inspire students by teaching, mentoring, and empowering them to grow and excel in their intellectual pursuits.
Jeffry A. Simpson
Psychology
College of Liberal Arts

Jeffry A. Simpson is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Doctoral Minor in Interpersonal Relationships (IREL) at the University of Minnesota. He has been actively involved in the development and running of several graduate education programs as well as the training of numerous graduate students over the past 30 years. His research interests focus on relationships, evolution and social behavior, and social development across the lifespan.
Margaret A. Titus
Genetics, Cell Biology & Development
Medical School

Meg Titus is an internationally recognized scholar widely known for her research excellence in the cell biology of the cytoskeleton. She excels in teaching the fundamentals of cell biology and the art of lucid scientific presentation. Her love of science is infectious, and she is admired for her generosity and passion in the training of undergraduates, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows, both within and outside her laboratory at the University of Minnesota.

2016 Award Recipients

Bryce A. Binstadt
Pediatrics
Medical School

A physician-scientist, Bryce Binstadt is a leading researcher and practitioner in the field of pediatric rheumatology. He excels in teaching across the span of his expertise, from basic immunology to the science and art of clinical medicine. He is also the founder of the department’s Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship program. By combining his care of patients with work in his NIH-funded laboratory, Binstadt nurtures the careers of numerous graduate and medical students, postdoctoral trainees, and clinical fellows at the University of Minnesota and across the nation. See a full profile (pdf).
Ann M. Burkhart
Law School

As a nationally recognized expert in real estate law, Ann Burkhart has taught more than 5,000 students with rigor, passion, and care. She requires students to dig deeply into the course materials and to focus on the larger context. The students are inspired by her passion for the law and for their progress, and they benefit from her generous mentoring. According to a former student, she inspires learners to “look beyond technical and legal analysis and think deeply about what is practical and equitable.” See a full profile (pdf).
Mary L. Chesney
School of Nursing

Mary Chesney influences students by designing exquisite learning environments in the classroom, online, and in the community, and providing real-world “stretch” experiences. She served from 2010 to 2015 as director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice program, where her leadership and administrative skills are credited with driving the program’s growth and national prominence. The program is now the largest campus-based/online hybrid program in the country. Though a high-profile professional in her field, her availability to students is a remarkable constant. See a full profile (pdf).
Maria L. Gini
Computer Science and Engineering
College of Science and Engineering

As a teacher and adviser, Maria Gini instills students with the excitement of advancing the state of the art in computing in general and in artificial intelligence in particular. Her new students are often surprised to discover that she employs a pair of small, fully automated robots in her classroom as exemplars of state-of-the-art robotic devices. Gini’s combination of imagination and dedication to her field has earned her an international reputation in robotics and artificial intelligence, as well as a number of honors for her teaching, including the Morse-Alumni Award in 1987. See a full profile (pdf).
Kristine P. Krafts
Diagnostic and Biological Sciences
School of Dentistry

Kristine Krafts has perfected the art of teaching complex medical concepts with simplicity, grace, and humor. She teaches and directs the General Histology and Pathology courses at the Dental School, and the Hormonal Medicine and Hematology courses at the Duluth Campus of the Medical School. Her lectures are exciting, energetic, and entertaining. On the website she developed, pathologystudent.com, Krafts covers basic information, questions and answers, clinical cases, and unique tips for learning pathology that are illustrated clearly. Through it she not only motivates her students and facilitates learning, but reaches out to pathology students worldwide to help them learn pathology in a friendly, interactive environment. See a full profile (pdf).
Deniz S. Ones
Psychology
College of Liberal Arts

Deniz Ones is a gifted teacher and mentor, whose students benefit greatly from her collegial style of research leadership. As one of the most influential scholars in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, she embraces a collaborative mentorship style that has resulted in numerous impactful publications co-authored by her mentees. Her advisees have won every award that the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology offers to graduate students. She is considered by colleagues as one of the main reasons why, though small, the Industrial and Organizational Psychology program consistently ranks first of 54 such programs in the nation. Ones was named a Distinguished McKnight University Professor in 2011. See a full profile (pdf).
Joe Soss
Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs

Joe Soss is an internationally acclaimed scholar of politics and society with a focus on power, public policy, inequality, and inequity. Soss has worked to open the Humphrey Institute’s educational environment to diverse theoretical and political perspectives, research methodologies, and pedagogies and, thus, to diverse students. Students describe him as willing to confront hard questions that need to be asked to improve society. He is noted for his commitment to graduate education for students in the professional master’s degree programs at the Humphrey School, as well as doctoral programs across three departments (Humphrey School, Political Science and Sociology). See a full profile (pdf).
Randall H. Victora
Electrical and Computer Engineering
College of Science and Engineering

With a focus on applications of physics to improve devices, Randall Victora had an extensive career in industry before switching to academics. As a faculty member in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, and as director of the Minnesota Micromagnetics and Information Technology Center, he has revitalized the University’s program in magnetics while mentoring graduate students who now lead magnetics research programs across the nation and abroad. As director of graduate studies, Victora enhanced the visibility and competitiveness of graduates with innovations like customized graduate training, which raised the profile of the department and helped launch the careers of many micromagnetics professionals. See a full profile (pdf).

Previous Award Recipients

Awardee	Department	Year
Lydia Artymiw	Music	2015
Philippe Buhlmann	Chemistry	2015
John P. Campbell	Psychology	2015
Paul W. Glewwe	Applied Economics	2015
David L. Kohlstedt	Earth Sciences	2015
Shashi Shekhar	Computer Science and Engineering	2015
Diane J. Tedick	Curriculum and Instruction	2015
Ezgi Tiryaki	Neurology	2015
Sharon S. Allen	Family Medicine and Community Health	2014
Dale Carpenter	Law School	2014
Jay Coggins	Applied Economics	2014
Jigna Desai	Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies	2014
Marc A. Hillmyer	Chemistry	2014
Sarah E. Hobbie	Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior	2014
Ned Mohan	Electrical and Computer Engineering	2014
Kevin D. Wickman	Pharmacology	2014
Jerry Cohen	Horticultural Science	2013
Ronald Hadsall	Pharmaceutical Care and Health	2013
Karen Ho	Anthropology	2013
Kevin Murphy	History	2013
Michael Osterholm	Environmental Health Sciences	2013
Keshab Parhi	Electrical & Computer Engineering	2013
Lisa Schimmenti	Pediatrics	2013
Robert Washabau	Veterinary Clinical Sciences	2013
Allen M. Goldman	Physics and Astronomy	2012
Kim K. P. Johnson	Design, Housing, and Apparel	2012
Bonnie LeRoy	Genetics, Cell Biology and Development	2012
Timothy P. Lodge	Chemistry, Chemical Engineering	2012
Jennifer L. Pierce	American Studies	2012
David Power	Family Medicine and Community Health	2012
Yoji Shimizu	Laboratory Medicine and Pathology	2012
Traci L. Toomey	Epidemiology and Community Health	2012
Melissa D. Avery	Nursing	2011
Janet M. Dubinsky	Neuroscience	2011
Edward G. Goetz	Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs	2011
Ralph W. Holzenthal	Entomology	2011
Anatoly Liberman	German, Scandinavian and Dutch	2011
Raymond M. Newman	Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology	2011
Margaret V. Root Kustritz	Veterinary Clinical Sciences	2011
Ann E. Van Heest	Orthopaedic Surgery	2011
Linda Bearinger	Nursing	2010
Alvin J. Beitz	Veterinary & Biomedical Sciences	2010
Kang Ling James	Mathematics & Statistics, UMD	2010
Ruth Karras	History	2010
Joseph Konstan	Computer Science & Engineering	2010
Rory Remmel	Medicinal Chemistry	2010
J. Ilja Siepmann	Chemistry	2010
Robert Sorenson	Genetics, Cell Biology & Development	2010
Sally J. Kenney	Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs	2009
Jean A. King	Educational Policy & Administration	2009
Josephine Lee	English Language & Literature	2009
Helga Leitner	Geography	2009
Michael C. Rodriguez	Educational Psychology	2009
Terry L. Roe	Applied Economics	2009
Jon C. Schommer	Pharmaceutical Care & Health Systems	2009
Jennifer York-Barr	Educational Policy & Administration	2009
Massoud Amin	Electrical and Computer Engineering	2008
Richard C. Brundage	Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology	2008
Cesare Casarino	Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature	2008
Douglas N. Foster	Animal Science	2008
John R. Freeman	Political Science	2008
Stephen A. Katz	Integrative Biology and Physiology	2008
John Matheson	Law School	2008
Melissa Middleton Stone	Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs	2008
Maria Damon	English	2007
John W. Day	Neurology & Pediatrics	2007
Ruth A. Lindquist	Nursing	2007
Thomas W. Molitor	Veterinary Population Medicine	2007
Bruce F. Wollenberg	Electrical & Computer Engineering	2007
Dennis Falk	Social Work, UMD	2006
Joan Garfield	Educational Psychology	2006
Wendy Hellerstedt	Epidemiology	2006
Richard Leppert	Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature	2006
Deborah Levison	Public Affairs	2006
Jean O'Brien	History	2006
Michel Sanders	Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, & Biophysics	2006
Ragui Assaad	Public Affairs	2005
Christopher J. Cramer	Chemistry	2005
Timothy J. Ebner	Neuroscience	2005
Alex J. Lubet	Music	2005
Carl A. Osborne	Veterinary Clinical Sciences	2005
Mary Margaret Rowan	Nursing	2005
Raj G. Suryanarayanan	Pharmaceutics	2005
Gregory M. Vercellotti	Medicine	2005
Kristin E. Anderson	Epidemiology	2004
James R. Carey	Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation/PT	2004
Susan M. Galatowitsch	Horticultural Science	2004
Glenn Giesler	Neuroscience	2004
Mats Heimdahl	Computer Science & Engineering	2004
Cynthia Peden-McAlpine	Nursing	2004
Kathryn A. Sikkink	Political Science	2004
Madelon Sprengnether	English	2004
Francesca J. Cuthbert	Fisheries & Wildlife	2003
Sara M. Evans	History	2003
Ilene Harris	Medical School: Educational Development & Research	2003
Marc Jenkins	Microbiology	2003
Frances Lawrenz	Educational Psychology	2003
John Mowitt	Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature	2003
Christian Teyssier	Geology & Geophysics	2003
Donald L. Uden	Pharmacy	2003
Peter W. Carr	Chemistry	2002
Hazel Dicken-Garcia	Journalism & Mass Communication	2002
David W. Hayden	Veterinary Diagnostic Medicine	2002
Paul A. Iaizzo	Surgery	2002
Mary Jo Maynes	History	2002
James T. Pacala	Family Practice & Community Health	2002
Anthony M. Starfield	Ecology, Evolution & Behavior	2002
John L. Sullivan	Political Science	2002
Ronald R. Aminzade	Sociology	2001
Kenneth Brooks	Forest Resources	2001
Edward M. Griffin	English	2001
Chap T. Le	Biostatistics	2001
Larry L. McKay	Food Science & Nutrition	2001
Patrick M. Schlievert	Microbiology	2001
Heinz G. Stefan	Civil Engineering	2001
Kathleen Watson	Medicine	2001
Raymond D. Duvall	Political Science	2000
Harold D. Grotevant	Family Social Science	2000
Wesley James Miller	Medicine	2000
Lawrence Que, Jr.	Chemistry	2000
Nelson L. Rhodus	Diagnotic & Surgical Science	2000
Elaine Tarone	Linguistics, ESL, Slavic Languages & Literatures	2000
David D. Thomas	Biochemistry, Molecular Biology & Biophysics	2000
Patricia McCarthy Veach	Educational Psychology	2000
Tom Clayton	English	1999
Margaret B. Davis	Ecology, Evolution & Behavior	1999
Robert Hardy	Veterinary Clinical Sciences	1999
Thomas R. Hoye	Chemistry	1999
Allen Isaacman	History	1999
Thomas B. Mackenzie	Psychiatry	1999
Ephraim M. Sparrow	Mechanical Engineering	1999
Richard A. Weinberg	Institute of Child Development	1999