Joel Swirnoff | Student Life

On April 19, over 100 members of the Arts & Sciences community gathered in Umrath Lounge for the Arts & Sciences Council’s annual Faculty and Staff Award Ceremony.

The event acknowledges professors in mathematics, social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, and the College Writing program. Employees of the University, including an administrator and a dining-staff member, were also recognized.

Winners of Faculty and Staff Awards were nominated and voted on by students in the College of Arts and Sciences. Numerous recipients — including Dr. Megan Daschbach, a professor of General Chemistry and a recipient of an award for natural sciences — expressed in their acceptance speeches their appreciation for the awards being based on student voting.

“Anytime anyone recognizes your teaching, it’s extraordinary,” Daschbach said. “But when it comes from the students, it just doesn’t get any better than that.”

Many students and community members in attendance reciprocated their professors’ gratitude, cheering loudly when their awards were announced. Richard Lee, a student in the Deneb STARS program, expressed his enthusiasm for Annie Kelly, an Assistant Director in the Taylor Family Center for Student Success.

“She made me feel like I have a family here,” Lee said. “If anyone deserves an award for knowing people’s names and stories, it’s her.” 

Lee was joined in his whooping cheers for Kelly by Dr. Sabrina Brown, the director of the Deneb STARS program. 

“We are so glad that [Kelly] is able to have this experience,” Brown said. “You hear that you are doing good work, but sometimes it’s a thankless job, so we’re glad that the college has something like this for faculty.”

After the event, community members and award winners chatted over a catered meal. Many former students congratulated their professors, with several taking pictures, sharing memories from classes, and sharing plans for the summer and beyond.

Marisa Nafso, a first-year student studying biology, said she came to the event to support Professors Daschbach and Richard Loomis; the latter taught a separate section of General Chemistry and also won an award in natural sciences. 

“It was amazing to see the mutual appreciation between students and professors,” Nafso said after the event. “In such a large school, it can be hard for students to show their appreciation, and this was a great way for students to do that.”

The full list of winners from the event, in the order of when the award was presented, is as follows:

Mathematics — Professor Karl Schaefer and Professor Abigail Jager

Social Sciences — Professor Emily Cohen-Shikora and Professor David Strait

Humanities — Professor Trevor Sangrey, Professor Ignacio Sanchez Prado, and Professor Jami Ake

Natural Sciences — Professor Megan Daschbach, Professor Richard Loomis, and Professor Jen Smith

College Writing — Professor Kasey Grady and Professor Colin Bassett

Employees — Assistant Director of Student Success Annie Kelly, Senior Assistant Dean Matthew DeVoll, and Paws & Go Cashier Dorothy Chandler