From left to right: President M. Duane Nellis, Presidential Teacher Award recipient Fabian Benencia, Presidential Teacher Award finalist Chao-Yang Lee, Executive Vice President and Provost Chaden Djalali, and Interim Vice President for Research and Creative Activity David Koonce. Not pictured: Presidential Teacher Award finalist Laura Harrison. Photo credit: Hannah Ruhoff/Ohio University.
Dr. Morgan Vis, Professor of Environmental & Plant Biology, has been named an Ohio University Presidential Research Scholar.
Vis is an internationally known expert on the systematics of freshwater red algae, an important source of food and shelter for invertebrates in steams, and the use of algae as a monitor of water quality. She has studied the distribution of algae around the world, describing new families, genera and species. She has used DNA testing to contribute new findings to her field about the evolution and relationships among algae. With an interdisciplinary team of scientists, Vis has examined how freshwater red algae can act as a biomonitor of the health of streams in Appalachia impacted by acid mine drainage. In addition, she has conducted research and consulted with engineers on how algae may be used as a source of biofuels and for carbon mitigation. Vis has a strong track record of external funding for her research, including several grants from the National Science Foundation, and has been awarded three patents. The former Fulbright Scholar has more than 120 refereed publications and currently is working on a book about freshwater red algae slated for a May 2020 publication.
Event Celebrate Faculty Recipients of Research and Teaching Excellence Awards, Oct. 31
The Ohio University community is invited to celebrate the 2018 recipients of the Presidential Research Scholars award, Presidential Teacher Award and Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching at a special recognition event on Wed., Oct. 31 in the Baker Center Ballroom A.
The event, sponsored by the offices of the Executive Vice President and Provost and Vice President for Research and Creative Activity, will begin with a reception at 6:30 p.m. followed by the ceremony from 7 to 8 p.m. Faculty, staff, students and community members are invited.
Faculty members Vis and Brian Clark have been named the 2018 Ohio University Presidential Research Scholars for excellence in life and biomedical sciences research. Vis is a professor in the Department of Environmental and Plant Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences. Clark is a professor and the Harold E. Clybourne, D.O., Endowed Research Chair in the Department of Biomedical Sciences in the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.
The awards program recognizes mid-career faculty members who have garnered national and international prominence in research, scholarship and creative activity. Each award recipient will receive $3,000 to be used at the scholar’s discretion as an honorarium or to support research or creative works.
Fabian Benencia, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences in the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, was chosen as the winner of the Presidential Teacher Award. The award is presented to a full-time, tenured (Group I) faculty member from one of OHIO’s campuses. It was first presented in 2001.
Finalists for the award were Laura Harrison, associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Higher Education in The Patton College of Education, and Chao-Yang Lee, associate professor and coordinator in the School of Rehabilitation and Communication Sciences in the College of Health Sciences and Professions.
Deborah Murray, associate lecturer in the School of Applied Health Sciences and Wellness in the College of Health Sciences and Professions, was named winner of the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. The Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching is presented to a full-time, non-tenure track (Group II) faculty member from one of OHIO’s campuses. The award was first presented in 2016.
Finalists for the award were Courtney Koestler, lecturer in the Department of Teacher Education in The Patton College of Education, and Marcus Barr, lecturer in the School of Applied Health Sciences and Wellness in the College of Health Sciences and Professions.
Selection for both teaching awards is based on excellence in teaching and meritorious academic pursuits both inside and outside the classroom, as acknowledged by peers and students, including teaching practices and innovations, influences on curriculum, student mentoring, colleague mentoring and scholarship with respect to teaching.
Teaching award winners hold the title of Presidential Teacher or Provost Teacher for three years and receive $1,000 each year. The selection committees for both awards review teaching portfolios, visit classrooms and conduct interviews with both finalists and their chairs, directors or division coordinators.
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