Founders Day 2005 event to honor faculty, students

While the news generally highlights IU's advances and endowments for research, Sunday the University will honor the other side of academia -- teaching.\nIU's history will be remembered, awards will be given to 16 system-wide professors and IUB students will be honored at Founders Day at 1 p.m. this weekend in Assembly Hall.\nIU President Adam Herbert will preside at Founders Day for the first time in his tenure as 13 faculty members and three doctoral students will be rewarded for contributions to the University.\n"Our primary mission is to teach," said Larry MacIntyre, event director and IU spokesman. "And this is a wonderful opportunity for us just to recognize the teachers."\nThe President's Award, which recognizes faculty members for outstanding teaching, research or service, will be presented to three of Bloomington's faculty members. The recipients are Matthew Auer, associate professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Douglas Knapp associate professor of the School of Health's Department of Park and Recreation and Mary McMullen, associate professor in the School of Education.\n"One of the great things about IU is they really put their money where their mouth is when it comes to honoring teaching," said Auer, who once secured travel funding for a student to present a paper to social scientists at Yale. "I've been other places where teaching isn't honored in the same way -- it's just really flattering."\nGretchen Anderson, who mentors students in her own chemistry lab over the summer, will be presented the Herman Frederic Lieber Memorial Award for distinguished teaching at IU-South Bend. Howard Rosenbaum, associate professor of library and information science, will also be honored for excellence in teaching with the Frederic Bachman Lieber Award.\nLinda Chen of IUSB's Department of Political Science will receive the Wilbert Hites Mentoring Award, whose recipients display outstanding ability to encourage and support others to achieve career and education goals.\n"I feel very honored," Chen said. "I think it speaks volumes for IU to honor mentoring."\nBetsy Lucal, sociology and anthropology professor at IUSB, will be given the Sylvia E. Bowman Award to honor exemplary work in discipline areas related to American civilizations.\nFor contributions to international programs, two professors will receive the John W. Ryan Award: IUB's Robert Campbell and IU Southeast's Deborah Finkel.\nCampbell, a retired-distinguished professor of the Department of Economics, has published a dozen books and more than 50 articles, advising world leaders and instructing students in his spare time.\nFinkel founded IU Southeast's international studies programs, making it available as a major. She also is well known outside of the classroom for helping the underprivileged in foreign countries and instructing grade school and high school teachers on how to incorporate multiculturalism in teaching.\nIUB students who have received academic honors will be given certificates after the ceremony at Mellencamp Pavilion.\n"They're all just really great people," MacIntyre said in reference to the honorees. "I know (Herbert) is really looking forward (to honoring them)."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Andy Romey at aromey@indiana.edu.