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University of Oregon announces Fund for Faculty Excellence recipients
Twelve faculty members are honored for teaching and research expertise
EUGENE, Ore. -- (Dec. 3, 2008) -- A dozen of the brightest faculty members at the University of Oregon have been honored for their contributions in their fields of research and in classrooms.
The Fund for Faculty Excellence awards recognize faculty members performing at the elite levels of their areas of research and elevating academic excellence at the UO. Among the recipients are a biomechanical engineer who works on decreasing the chances of falls in people whose locomotive abilities are impaired due to injury, surgery or age, an expert on the prosecution of domestic violence and child abuse, and one of the world's top scientists in semiconductor optics.
The purpose of the awards program, which was established by Lorry I. Lokey in 2006, is to reward top faculty members with research support and salary supplements in an effort to keep and attract world-class individuals.
Lokey, the founder of Business Wire, the world's leading international news release wire service, and a generous contributor to the university, established the Fund for Faculty Excellence program as an important element of the university's academic priorities.
"The Fund for Faculty Excellence is an important program that enables the university to retain some of the brightest, eager minds in academics today," said Senior Vice President and Provost James Bean. "Recognizing the incredible contributions of these individuals is a great honor and supporting them for their efforts to further research discoveries and prepare our students to contribute to the world is essential."
Eight of the 2008-09 recipients are from the College of Arts and Science: Li-Shan Chou, human physiology; Scott Frey, psychology; Karen Guillemin, biology; Ehud Havazelet, creative writing; Douglas J. Kennett, anthropology; Eric Torrence, physics; Hailin Wang, physics; Yuan Xu, mathematics.
Other recipients are: Howard Davis, architecture, School of Architecture and Allied Arts; Tom Lininger, law, from the School of Law; Harry E. Price, music education, School of Music and Dance; and McKay Moore Sohlberg, communication disorders and sciences, College of Education.
The individuals were selected by the provost based on recommendations by a committee of distinguished faculty members, each holding a named chair or recipient of another significant honor for outstanding scholarship, research and teaching.
Research support and salary supplements range from $5,000 to $10,000 this year. The supplements are for five years and are renewable.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of 62 of the leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. Membership in the AAU is by invitation only. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.
Contact: Julie Brown, 541-346-3185, julbrown@uoregon.edu
Link: Fund for Faculty Excellence recipient bios: http://tinyurl.com/5836xh
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