UMaine Annual Faculty Award Winners Announced
Four University of Maine professors were recognized this afternoon for outstanding contributions to the university’s mission of teaching, research and public service. Professors Alfred Bushway, John Mahon, Kathleen March and Douglas Nangle received UMaine’s top annual faculty awards at today’s Academic Honors Convocation. The ceremony was held at the Collins Center for the Arts.
Alfred Bushway, a 1968 UMaine graduate who has been a faculty member for 33 years, is the 2011 Distinguished Maine Professor. Established by the University of Maine Alumni Association in 1963, the Distinguished Maine Professor Award is UMaine’s top faculty honor, recognizing outstanding contributions in all aspects of the university’s mission. Bushway, who is in the Dept. of Food Science and Human Nutrition, is an acclaimed classroom teacher who teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses while serving as an accessible, trusted and valued student adviser. He has been instrumental in shaping UMaine’s food science curriculum and he is noted for effectively using technology to enhance the teaching and learning experience. Bushway is an expert on food safety and processing methods, applying the results of his research to serving the public, particularly through his extensive service as a resource for Maine’s food industry. He is a highly productive scholar who has published more than 75 academic articles during the course of his career, while also bringing in research grants totaling more than $1 million.
John Mahon, the John M. Murphy Chair of International Business Policy and Strategy, was announced as winner of the 2011 Presidential Research and Creative Achievement Award. A UMaine faculty member since 2001, Mahon has also served as UMaine’s interim provost and as dean of the College of Business, Public Policy and Health. An internationally renowned expert in the discipline of business and organizational development and behavior, Mahon is a prolific scholar whose work is acclaimed by colleagues for its quality and insights. In the past three years alone, Mahon has received 12 national awards for writing and research. One of his papers, written in 2009, is the most cited paper in the 50-year history of the journal Business and Society.
Douglas Nangle, a Professor of Psychology who joined the UMaine faculty in 1994, is the 2011 recipient of UMaine’s Presidential Outstanding Teaching Award. In nominating him for this award, his colleagues noted Nangle’s ability to engage and inspire students, at both the undergraduate level and graduate level, through his exemplary teaching and advising work. Nangle serves as director of UMaine’s clinical psychology doctoral program, a role through which he has led efforts to strengthen diversity education, effectively assess educational goals and outcomes, and to evaluate the program annually. He also has a national profile in his field, serving in a leadership role in the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.
Kathleen March, a UMaine faculty member since 1984 and a Professor of Spanish, was honored with UMaine’s 2011 Presidential Public Service Achievement Award. Dedicated to helping others and engaging her students in projects that apply university expertise in meaningful ways, March is having a positive impact in Maine and beyond. She has been noted for her work as an interpreter assisting defendants in court. Her school-based initiatives in Old Town, Lubec and other places have improved language proficiency while also serving to inspire public service efforts. March has also led five trips to Honduras, bringing UMaine students including engineers, nurses and others providing assistance to rural residents dealing with health, literacy and infrastructure concerns.
“It is a great honor to recognize these four truly outstanding UMaine faculty members,” says President Robert Kennedy. “They exemplify the creativity and commitment that characterize our wonderful faculty. Their efforts on behalf of our students and the people of Maine exemplify the approach that makes UMaine, as the state’s land-grant university, an indispensable resource that is having a wide-ranging and positive impact. I congratulate Al, John, Doug and Kathleen on these honors and I commend them for their incredible contributions to achieving the UMaine mission.”
These professors will all be recognized at Saturday’s commencement ceremonies.
May 6, 2011
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571