Dr. Katherine Jellison
Dr. Katherine Jellison, Professor and Chair of History at Ohio University, received the Outstanding Faculty Leadership and Service Award for 2016-17. The Arts & Sciences Awards Advisory Committee made its decision last spring and announced it this fall.
The award recognizes “outstanding contributions in the areas of departmental, college, and university governance, institutional service, and community outreach that involves professional expertise.” Each year, the College of Arts & Sciences accepts nominations and makes one such award for the entire college.
Among her major accomplishments as department chair over the past four years, Jellison successfully hired talented young faculty to fill tenure-track positions in Middle Eastern history, Southeast Asian history, early American history, and the History of Science and Technology. She also created a formal mentoring system in which assistant professors are paired with successful senior members of the department.
Jellison also has formed positions and committees to broaden programmatic pathways for undergraduate students seeking careers in public history and for graduate students pursuing non-academic careers. Furthermore, she created a symposium series, titled “History on the Road,” whereby department faculty interact with members of the general public at historical societies and sites around the state.
As her department nomination letter put it, “In her 20-plus years at Ohio University, Jellison has brought creativity and remarkable dedication to her students and colleagues…. She has served the History Department in practically every capacity possible, including crucial positions like our director of graduate studies, assistant chair, and director of the Master of Social Sciences.”
In addition to her service as chair in the History Department and across the college and Ohio University in various capacities, Jellison is an accomplished scholar and teacher. Her research interests center around U.S. history with an emphasis on women and gender studies. Most recently, she was named Ohio University’s Top Faculty Newsmaker for 2016, having appeared in 1,031 media placements. Jellison was a go-to reference during the 2016 election campaigns given the frequent historical analogies being made, the prominent role of both female candidates, and afterwards an unconventional first lady and first daughter.
For more on Jellison’s research and teaching interests, as well as her service and leadership experience, visit her History Department profile.
Comments