Annual UMaine Faculty Award Winners Announced
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — The winners of the University of Maine’s top awards for faculty members were announced on Friday, May 16 at UMaine’s annual convocation ceremony. Along with the UMaine’s Alumni Association’s annual Distinguished Maine Professor Award, recognition was given for outstanding achievement in each of the three parts of UMaine’s mission: teaching, research and public service.
Kevin Boyle, a Presque Isle native who graduated from UMaine in 1978, is the 2003 Distinguished Maine Professor. The prestigious award is presented annually by the alumni association to recognize outstanding faculty achievement. Boyle, a faculty member of the UMaine Dept. of Resource Economics and Policy since 1986, teaches environmental economics and environmental policy. He is an expert on the development of statistical models to estimate the economic values people assign to natural resources and environmental quality. The author of over 150 published research papers, Boyle has also devoted a great deal of time to sharing his expertise with government agencies and environmental groups.
“In 17 years at the University of Maine he has established himself as a highly effective teacher, a ground-breaking researcher, and a devoted public servant,” reads the alumni association citation that was presented to Boyle at the announcement of his award.
Professor of Mathematics Robert Franzosa is the recipient of the Presidential Outstanding Teaching Award. A UMaine faculty member since September of 1983, Franzosa is associate chair of the Dept. of Mathematics and Statistics. He teaches a wide variety of courses, including those intended to fulfill university general education requirements and those taken by graduate students. An innovative teacher and an active and enthusiastic adviser, Franzosa consistently receives high ratings in student evaluations.
“Bob has a philosophy of teaching that engages the students in a community of learning where inquiry and understanding are the keys to success, and he works very diligently to bring that philosophy and the good results that spring from it into every class he teaches,” wrote UMaine Prof. Charles Slavin in a letter nominating Franzosa for the award.
Habib Dagher, BIW Professor of Structural Engineering and director of UMaine’s Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center (AEWC), is the recipient of the Presidential Research and Creative Achievement Award. A UMaine faculty member since 1985, Dagher’s innovative work in wood composites has involved the creation of technology that can positively affect Maine’s economy. A vivid example is the Bangor-based business Engineered Materials of Maine, which is a manufacturing enterprise based on AEWC technology. He has been at the forefront of advances in wood composites research leading to applications in areas like bridges, construction materials and ship components. Dagher is one of UMaine’s leaders in gaining funding for research projects, having brought in over $20 million during his time on the UMaine faculty.
“Professor Dagher has been a consummate scholar since the day he arrived on campus almost 18 years ago, and his research has had an enormous impact at state, national and international levels,” wrote faculty colleagues Eric Landis, William Davids and Roberto Lopez Anido in a nomination letter.
Dept. of Spatial Information Science and Engineering Professor Harlan Onsrud received the Presidential Public Service Achievement Award. A UMaine faculty member since 1987, Onsrud has been the driving force behind numerous public service initiatives at the in Maine, around the U.S. and beyond. His work has benefited Maine’s students and teachers and has added to the statewide understanding of the advances in engineering and science at UMaine. The president of the national University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, Onsrud is a nationally recognized leader in the scientific community. Onsrud is also a tireless contributor to the UMaine community, lending his expertise to efforts like the university-wide Information Science Consortium, an interdisciplinary initiative behind which he has been the driving force.
“Harlan Onsrud is the kind of open-minded, multidimensional, entrepreneurial spirit that the University of Maine and all institutions must encourage if they are to not just survive, but to thrive,” wrote UMaine Prof. William Kuykendall in a nomination letter.