On Wednesday, May 13, faculty, staff and SPH leaders convened for the virtual spring assembly where faculty and staff were honored for their outstanding service and commitment to the school.
Doris Sands Excellence in Teaching Award
Presented to a faculty member who has been evaluated by the department chair, peers and students as being an excellent teacher in his/her area of expertise.
Dr. La Touche-Howard is an engaging lecturer who has taught over 3000 students in more than ten different core/required, general education and elective courses since 2013—some of which she developed from scratch. She has worked to make her courses innovative, meaningful and challenging and is committed to student success. She still keeps in touch with students from years ago and alumni routinely seek her out for career guidance.
George F. Kramer Practitioner of the Year Award
Presented to a faculty member who has been recognized for doing an outstanding job of putting theory into practice (application of knowledge in a practical setting).
Dr. Steinberg’s research, largely focusing on unintended pregnancy and mental health, has received national media attention and has been used extensively by US lawmakers and courts. A prolific researcher, she has also served as a scientific expert for the Center for Reproductive Rights in legal challenges for a slew of state laws and has contributed to two Amicus Briefs to the Supreme Court. Her important work seeks to ensure access to safe and legal abortion for all women.
Jerry P. Wrenn Outstanding Service Award
Presented to a faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding service in general and specifically to the University community. Special attention is given to noteworthy advising at both the Undergraduate and Graduate levels and is our highest award for service to students.
As the Deputy Director for Center Operations of the University of Maryland Prevention Research Center (UMD-PRC), Dr. King-Marshall is dedicated to the UMD-PRC’s mission of improving the mental health and health care needs of LGBTQ+ community. As a core research scientist for the center, Dr. King-Marshall is on the MTurk National Survey team, the Pre-Implementation Research team and the Core Research Project team. She also serves as the UMD-PRC liaison to the CDC national administration cooperative agreement and on the National PRC Operations Committee. In addition to her work with the UMD-PRC, Dr. King-Marshall provides extraordinary service to the Department of Behavioral and Community Health. She serves as a dedicated mentor to both undergraduate and graduate students, supporting them through their projects, teaching assistantships and helping them land internships where they will excel and meet their personal goals.
Muriel R. Sloan Communitarian Award
Presented to a faculty member who has made a significant contribution through outreach programs to the State of Maryland and surrounding communities. Special emphasis is given to programs designed to assist the public school systems in achieving their overall mission of educating and graduating students.
Dr. Sacoby Wilson’s work on environmental justice and health equity in our local and regional communities has improved health outcomes while raising our school and university's visibility and profile. Spanning the gamut of environmental health issues from air and water quality to land use issues, Dr. Wilson’s work involves identifying environmental inequities and actively working with regional community partners to advocate for change for over-burdened and often minority communities across Maryland’s Eastern Shore; Delaware; Uniontown, Alabama; and the Anacostia River region. He is a founding member of the Ivy City Right to Breathe Partnership, a member of the Patuxent Riverkeeper’s governing board and member of the PG County Environmental Justice Commission. Also, Dr. Wilson actively engages graduate, undergraduate and area high school students in his scholarship and service to communities.
Research and Development Award
Presented to a faculty member who has been recognized for doing an outstanding job in research and/or development.
Dr. Green is an exceptional researcher who has maintained continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) over the last 13 years since joining UMD in 2007. Within two years of joining UMD, she obtained her first R01 as Principle Investigator (PI) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Most recently, she received her fourth NIH award as PI with over $3 million in funding from National Institute on Aging (NIA) and she is currently the PI of two NIH R01s. She has published over 75 articles, including 16 in the last year (since 2019) and has averaged approximately seven articles per year in the past five years. Her research has been cited 2,695 times and her h-index is 30. Her research has secured consistent placements in top-tier journals—with a mean impact factor of 3.3. Recently she was asked to write a commentary on social and behavioral consequences of marijuana use for the journal Addiction because of her established expertise on the topic.
Dr. Green has also been able to fund multiple graduate assistants to ensure their research training. Currently, she funds two doctoral students on her NIH grants, through a diversity supplement and a full-time graduate assistantship. Additionally, she has chaired or co-chaired nine dissertations in one year, graduating four doctoral students and about half of her publications have included student co-authors.
Leda Amick Wilson Mentoring Award
Established in 2003 to honor a former FMSC faculty member who was an advocate for undergraduate students and mentoring their progress toward the completion of their degree requirements. Presented to a faculty member who has done an outstanding job of mentoring students in the department or college.
Dr. Slopen is a committed teacher, scholar and mentor who is dedicated to helping her mentees to develop the theoretical, methodological and technical skills required to become leaders in the science and practice of Epidemiology and a diverse number of disciplines. To date, Dr. Slopen has chaired 16 MPH theses or capstone projects and served as a committee member on 18 MPH theses or capstone projects. She also has served as a committee member on ten completed PhD dissertations and mentored a dozen undergraduate and graduate students in Independent Studies. Dr. Slopen has mentored or co-mentored a dozen student- or postdoc led first-authored peer-reviewed publications. She also supported seven students or postdocs on presentations for local and national conferences. Additionally, she has supported students on presentations at conferences, publishing in peer-reviewed journals as first author and finding professional opportunities upon graduation.
Viki Annand Staff Excellence Award
Established in 2009 in honor of a former Assistant Dean. Presented to a staff member who has demonstrated superior service and ongoing contributions to a department and/or the school. Special emphasis is given to outstanding achievement and performance, personal interaction and initiative and creativity.
Felicia joined the Public Health Science program at a pivotal time in 2015 when enrollment in the major was rapidly growing and because of Felicia’s foresight, dedication and innovation, the program now offers a robust and high-quality set of advising and student services to address all of the nuanced needs of the over 1000 declared Public Health Science majors. She has an innovative approach to advising and has instituted error-free advising processes that have become an example for the school, revolutionized the senior audit process, developed online tools to better support students and is now serving as a trainer for our new advising staff. Felicia’s understanding of campus policies has made her a “go-to” person for all aspects of student services and program questions. Her insights have made her a critical voice in discussions about the program, curriculum improvements and campus partnerships.
In this past year, Felicia assumed even greater responsibility when the Program’s Associate Director was on maternity leave. During this time, Felicia completed the onboarding of a new program advisor, provided guidance to the spring professional development series for students and helped with day-to-day office management, all while maintaining her advising leadership.
Gloria S. Friedgen School Spirit Award
Established in 2014 in honor of an alumnus and first Coordinator for Alumni and Outreach. Presented to an SPH faculty, staff, or student who has demonstrated outstanding performance and consistent dedication, initiative, motivation, positive attitude and customer service to those they support and with whom they interact.
Tia shows a high level of passion and dedication to the SPH community. Recently, Tia led the coordination of both the Fall 2019 First Look and Spring 2020 Student Engagement Fairs. Both fairs provided hundreds of SPH students with the opportunity to get involved in the SPH community by networking with students with similar interests, engaging with peers about their research projects and connecting with faculty. Tia’s personal motivation to make these fairs a success reflects on her greater motivation to making the SPH an excellent place for students, staff and faculty.
Staff Teamwork and Community-Builder Award
Established in 2015 to recognize a staff member who works effectively to advance a department, unit and/or the SPH through teamwork, collaboration and cooperation. S/he shares knowledge and helps others to achieve job-related goals inspires others to work successfully as a team, contributes to group problem-solving and supports an inclusive community that respects and embraces differences.
Serving as an influential voice for Department of Kinesiology undergraduate majors, Lindsey Winter is a dedicated student advisor. Her activities include conducting one-on-one meetings with students in need of guidance, leading career workshops, promoting and nurturing the Kinesiology Student Organization (KSO), directing the orientation of new students, facilitating social events for students and staff and even guiding critical experiential learning activities.
Her innovative approach to career education and her efforts to understand the students' views on curricular change have been highly informative to the Department of Kinesiology faculty. Her work has invigorated the way the Kinesiology Department communicates with students for constructive ideas.