NEWS RELEASE
January 25, 2012
SCHEV and Dominion Resources Announce
2012 Outstanding Faculty Award Recipients
RICHMOND — The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) and Dominion Resources are pleased to announce the 12 faculty members from Virginia’s public and private colleges and universities who have been selected as recipients of the 2012 Outstanding Faculty Award (OFA).
“The Council is pleased to once again partner with Dominion Resources to honor these extraordinary educators,” said SCHEV Director Peter Blake. “Each year we are impressed by the diverse accomplishments of these talented professors. The scholarship and dedication of these honorees is a testament to the strength of Virginia’s unique system of higher education.”
“Dominion is proud to have sponsored the Outstanding Faculty Awards since 2005,” said Virginia M. Board, president of the Dominion Foundation and managing director of community affairs for Dominion Resources. “The commitment of these twelve individuals to discovering and sharing knowledge should inspire not only the students in their classrooms, but all Virginians.”
This year marks the 26th anniversary of the statewide awards program, which honors faculty members for excellence in teaching, research, knowledge integration, and public service. The 12 recipients were selected from a pool of 125 applications based on accomplishments that strongly reflect the missions of their respective institutions.
2012 Outstanding Faculty Award recipients:
Dr. Giorgio Ascoli
Professor of Neuroscience
George Mason University
Dr. Kathleen Garces-Foley
Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Marymount University
Rising Star Recipient
Dr. Bryan Giemza
Assistant Professor of English
Randolph-Macon College
Rising Star Recipient
Dr. Robert Hazen
Professor of Earth Science
George Mason University
Dr. Douglas Hicks
Professor of Leadership Studies and Religion
University of Richmond
Dr. James Kahn
Professor of Economics
Washington & Lee University
Dr. Zina McGee
Professor of Sociology
Hampton University
Dr. Rasha Morsi
Associate Professor of Engineering
Norfolk State University
Teaching with Technology Recipient
Dr. Charles Poland
Professor of History
Northern Virginia Community College
Dr. Anne Stewart
Professor of Psychology
James Madison University
Dr. Lesley Wheeler
Professor of English
Washington & Lee University
Dr. Steve Yetiv
Professor of Political Science and International Studies
Old Dominion University
Photos and information about each of this year's recipients can be found on the SCHEV web at www.schev.edu/AdminFaculty/OFAprogramIndex.asp.
The recipients will be recognized during a Feb. 16 ceremony at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. Each of the 12 recipients will receive an engraved award and a $5,000 check underwritten by the Dominion Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Dominion Resources. Dominion Resources is the parent company of Dominion Virginia Power.
The OFA program is administered by SCHEV and funded by a grant from the Dominion Foundation, which has fully supported the OFA program since 2005. Since the first awards ceremony in 1987, 304 Virginia faculty members - including the 2012 recipients - have received this high honor.
SCHEV is the Commonwealth’s coordinating body for Virginia’s system of higher education. The agency provides policy guidance and budget recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly, and is a resource for information on higher education issues for Virginia colleges and universities. SCHEV has administered the Outstanding Faculty Awards since its inception in 1986.
Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 28,000 megawatts of generation. Dominion operates the nation's largest natural gas storage system and serves retail energy customers in 15 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.
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