UMaine Faculty Members Honored
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — The four highest awards to University of Maine faculty were presented at the Academic Honors Convocation earlier this afternoon.
This year’s Distinguished Maine Professor is Robert Strong, professor of finance and University of Maine Foundation Professor of Investment Education. The annual award by the Alumni Association recognizes outstanding achievements in teaching, research and public service.
The Presidential Public Service Achievement Award was presented to David Lambert, from the UMaine Dept. of Plant, Soil and Environmental Sciences.. The recipient of the Presidential Research and Creative Achievement Award was James Acheson, professor of anthropology and marine sciences. Receiving the Presidential Teaching Award was Patricia Burnes from the UMaine English faculty.
Robert Strong has been a UMaine faculty member since 1983. He was recognized for outstanding commitment to each part of UMaine’s mission: teaching, research and public service. Colleagues note his positive interaction with UMaine students throughout Strong’s 22 years on the faculty, as well as his commitment to extending teaching beyond the classroom. In 1993, Strong started the Student Portfolio Investment Fund (SPIFFY), through which students manage a University of Maine Foundation investment fund. SPIFFY began with a $200,000 allotment and is now valued at more than $1.1 million. He is also a recognized scholar in his field, having written three widely-used textbooks. Strong is very active in civic organizations and statewide commissions that benefit from his expertise.
David Lambert, a plant pathologist, has been on the UMaine faculty since 1986. His extensive efforts to inform and educate the potato industry about potentially damaging diseases, including potato late blight and potato mop-top disease, have had significant implications for potato growers in Maine and beyond. His award citation noted that his extensive research work involving potato diseases enables Lambert to bring the most current and informed perspectives to discussions with those who work in the potato industry.
A UMaine professor since 1968, James Acheson has focused his work in three areas: MesoAmerican ethnography, economic anthropology and maritime anthropology. His scholarly achievements include four books, including “The Lobster Gangs of Maine.” The Baxter Society listed that book as one of the “One Hundred Distinguished Books” about Maine. In 2004, Acheson received the American Anthropological Association’s Solon T. Kimball Award for Public and Applied Anthropology, the nation’s highest honor in his field.
Patricia Burnes has been on the UMaine faculty for 33 years. An English composition specialist, she oversees College Composition, the writing course required of most first-year students. Burnes also teaches other English Dept. courses, and teaches graduate students how to teach college writing courses. She has been an active participant in departmental and university-wide faculty organizations throughout her UMaine career, and has extended her teaching ability and knowledge to benefit teachers and others throughout Maine.