SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Award

Mason’s Evan Marie Lowder receives Outstanding Faculty Award from SCHEV

Colleen Rich — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 14:51:56 +0000

Mason’s Evan Marie Lowder receives Outstanding Faculty Award from SCHEV Colleen Rich Fri, 01/19/2024 - 09:51

��AV’s Evan Marie Lowder is among 12 state educators to be formally recognized by the State Council of Higher Education (SCHEV) with a 2024 Outstanding Faculty Award.

Evan Lowder. Photo by Office of University Branding

The assistant professor of Criminology Law, and Society will be honored as a “Rising Star,” a designation for faculty with two to six years of full-time experience, and is the 29th Mason faculty member to be celebrated since the awards began in 1987.

“I was very surprised,” said Lowder, who has been at Mason since 2019. “Overall, just very positive news.”

Outstanding Faculty Awards recognize faculty at Virginia public and private colleges and universities who exemplify the highest standards of research, teaching, and service. The award includes a $7,500 gift from the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation to be presented at an in-person ceremony on March 7 in Richmond.

“Evan is an academic star in every sense,” said James Willis, chair of the Department of Criminology, Law, and Society, part of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. “She is an excellent researcher doing vital work, and an outstanding teacher and mentor who elevates her students and provides invaluable service to the department, college, and university. She is truly deserving this prestigious award.”

Lowder originally wanted to be a lawyer, a seed probably planted by her mother, she said.

It was not a random notion.

“I was a very curious, articulate, and kind of argumentative child,” Lowder said. “My mother always said, ‘You should be a lawyer because of your ability to care about issues and fight for justice.’ ”

But while Lowder was pursuing majors in psychology and political science at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota, there came a revelation.

“I realized through the law you can impact people’s lives, but it’s kind of individually, one by one” Lowder said. “I became interested in this idea of how you can use research to further policy and practices that can help a larger group of people.”

Lowder’s research focuses on reducing justice-system contact and improving behavioral health outcomes among justice-involved adults.

Her Early Justice Strategies Lab examines ways to facilitate community release, supervision, and connection to services and supports for those who are justice-involved. Many projects focus on front-end legal processing such as community-, police-, and court-based interventions.

Lowder said she is most proud of helping to evaluate the state of Indiana’s pretrial risk assessment tool. Though the tool did well in predicting outcomes overall, she said, it did not do as well for Black defendants in general.

“So that motivated this whole conversation about looking at other places in the system where we can help rectify some of those disparities,” Lowder said. “It launched a bigger conversation about race and the way it manifests in the criminal justice system. That has led to other projects working with Indiana government and local agencies to try to address some of those issues.”

“It’s rewarding to have that bi-directional relationship,” she added, “where we’re giving something back to the community, and we’re taking something that can help to advance the evidence base around a specific issue.”

It’s a sensibility that she began developing at a young age.

“Everything was a negotiation where I thought, ‘Oh, that doesn’t make sense and why does it have to be that way?’ ” Lowder said. “You’re curious, you want answers and you want to be logical. But the world doesn’t work that way. That’s hard to understand when you’re little. But when you grow up and get the chance to apply evidence-based thinking to your work and your life, that’s very rewarding.”

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Alessandra Luchini honored by SCHEV with Outstanding Faculty Award

Melanie Balog — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 21:50:17 +0000

Alessandra Luchini honored by SCHEV with Outstanding Faculty Award Melanie Balog Thu, 01/12/2023 - 16:50

��AV’s Alessandra Luchini is among the 12 educators statewide set to be formally recognized by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) with a 2023 Outstanding Faculty Award.

Alessandra Luchini
Photo by Creative Services

Luchini, a professor in Mason’s Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM) within the College of Science, is Mason’s 28th faculty member to be so honored since the award’s inception in 1987.

“This has been unbelievable,” said Luchini, the director of the Biosciences PhD Program within the School of Systems Biology, “because it is the highest honor in Virginia, and there are so many thousands of faculty with huge impact in their research. It is a complete honor, and I am incredulous.”

Outstanding Faculty Awards recognize faculty at Virginia’s public and private colleges and universities who exemplify the highest standards of teaching, scholarship and service. The award includes a $7,500 gift from the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation when they are formally recognized at an in-person ceremony in Richmond on March 7.

Mark R. Ginsberg, Mason’s provost and executive vice president, lauded Luchini for her efforts.

“Professor Luchini is an exemplary member of the Mason faculty,” Ginsberg said. “I am delighted she has been recognized for her dedication to the education and development of her students and her outstanding and higher consequential research. She exemplifies the Mason spirit and is setting an example for future educators and scientists who will no doubt stand on her shoulders.”

Luchini’s research interests include developing technologies that improve current diagnostics and therapeutics for diseases, including cancer and inflammatory and infectious diseases.

She is a co-founder of Ceres Nanosciences Inc., which was created in 2008, and Monet Pharmaseuticals, created in 2019. In 2011, Luchini was named one of Popular Science’s Brilliant 10.

Most recently, Luchini contributed to the fight against Lyme disease by help leading a team of CAPMM researchers that was named one of 10 Phase 1 winners of the LymeX Diagnostic Prize by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation.

“Lyme disease is probably what I have been closer to,” Luchini said. “I interact with doctors who recommend patients for our clinical trials, I interact with patients and I hear their stories and, hopefully, my research allows them to understand a little bit more about what they have and how they can improve their health. It is a good reality check and a good reminder of why we do what we do—which is to help people.”

Outstanding Faculty Award nominees are selected by their institutions, reviewed by a panel of peers and chosen by a committee of leaders from the public and private sectors. SCHEV received 74 nominations this year before the group was narrowed to 24 finalists and the 12 eventual winners.

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Visit the CAPMM website

CAPMM's mission is to create new technologies and make basic science discoveries in the field of disease pathogenisis and apply these discoveries and technologies to create and implement strategies for disease prevention, early diagnosis and individualized therapy.

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Mason alum is making a difference in the community college classroom

Colleen Rich — Tue, 10 May 2022 21:23:14 +0000

Mason alum is making a difference in the community college classroom Colleen Rich Tue, 05/10/2022 - 17:23

Kwabena Konadu. Photo provided

His own rise against long odds is what fuels Kwabena Konadu, BS Electrical Engineering ’00, MS Telecommunications ’02, every day, and it is what has makes him such an effective educator.

Konadu is a professor of computer science at Northern Virginia Community College’s Woodbridge Campus and the college-wide program head of cybersecurity.

In March, he was recognized for his work by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia with one of the its 2022 Outstanding Faculty Awards, one of the most prestigious teaching awards in the state.

“I come from very humble beginnings,” said Konadu of the award. “So that does mean a lot to me because I’ve been spending a significant amount of time helping the next generation of cyber professionals who will help protect our infrastructure.”

Arriving in the United States from his native Ghana at 14, Konadu could barely speak English and had never laid eyes on a computer. But his persistence in learning the language and fully immersing himself in education has transformed his life and spurred him to pay it forward.

Initially Konadu struggled academically, and he credits his teachers for encouraging him to press on. In addition to earning two degrees from Mason, he also holds a degree in physics from Washington College in Maryland.

“Mason really challenged me,” he said, “but it prepared me for what I’m experiencing right now.”

After completing college, Konadu initially worked as an engineer in a number of different capacities before opting to follow his passion for cybersecurity. In 2008, he began teaching noncredit workforce courses for NOVA, eventually becoming an adjunct professor for the school in 2014 and a full-time faculty member in 2018.

His passion for his students knows no limits, as Konadu also coaches the NOVA Cyber Sports Team, which was the only community college squad to make it to the 2021 Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition’s regional qualifying round finals.

He sees himself remaining at NOVA for the long haul because he feels it’s where he can make the most positive impact each day.

“This is where you see the kids most in need,” said Konadu. “I’m excited about being able to help guide those kinds of students, prepare them [for the workforce], and help them put food on the table.”

For added motivation, his own stirring personal story is among the first things he offers students at the start of each year.

“If I can do it, they can do it,” he said.

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Leah Adams and Amarda Shehu honored with SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Awards

John Hollis — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 16:44:36 +0000

Leah Adams and Amarda Shehu honored with SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Awards John Hollis Wed, 02/02/2022 - 11:44

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Amarda Shehu

��AV’s Amarda Shehu and Leah Adams were among the 12 educators from around the state who were formally recognized by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) with 2022 Outstanding Faculty Awards.

Shehu, a professor in the Department of Computer Science within the College of Engineering and Computing, and Adams, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and Women and Gender Studies Program, were among the recipients chosen for their superior accomplishments in teaching, research and public service.

Leah Adams. Photo by Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications

Shehu received the Outstanding Faculty Award. Adams received the Rising Star Award reserved for faculty with more than two complete years of full-time experience, but less than six. Beginning in 2010, two Rising Star recipients have been selected annually.

Adams and Shehu became Mason’s 26th and 27th overall selections since the inception of the Outstanding Faculty Awards in 1987. They will be recognized at a ceremony on March 1 in Richmond.

They both recently sat down with Communications Manager John Hollis to talk about the honor.

What does this recognition by SCHEV mean to you and what does it mean for your work?

Shehu: I think it’s a very well-rounded review of your research, teaching, mentorship, and service. … I [also] think it’s a recognition of the role that we play, the opportunity that we have to shape the lives of our students and to steer students along. I’ve always been driven by putting people first and helping my students in any way, whether it was by leading them or cheering them along. I’ve always been a champion of my students. So this is what the award means to me—recognition of the responsibility we have, the privilege that we have, to turn stories of difficulty and hardship into stories of persistence and success. Our students are getting a great life lesson that will serve them even after they leave the university.

Amarda Shehu. Photo by Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications

Adams: For me, winning this award feels a little like a full-circle moment because, when I was a fourth-grader moving to Virginia, I knew immediately the impact that my teachers were having. To be able to now be in a place where I’m being recognized for the impact I’m trying to have on students just feels really amazing. It was very unexpected, but it does feel really nice. As far as my work, I think it will help bolster some of the projects I’m working on. I’m working on a couple of research projects that are specifically focused on Virginia, so it highlights the work I’m doing.

Tell me a little bit about your research and why is it potentially significant?

Shehu: I’m a computer scientist, but, in my training, I was exposed to interdisciplinary research, and I have really kept that focus, even here at Mason. I am a firm believer that real-world problems are the ones that give us the most challenging questions [and] also inspire us and motivate us to design new computational methodologies, new algorithms. I’ve always looked to make an impact beyond computer science, to improve health and other aspects of the human condition. So it’s always been computing in the service of something greater. That has always been my philosophy.

Adams: My research sits at the intersection of a lot of different areas. I’m a clinical psychologist by training, but I’ve always brought in ideas and concepts that expand beyond psychology. So my work [is] trying to understand how people can improve the quality of their lives—mostly folks who are dealing with chronic illnesses or who are at risk for illness or living with acquired disability. How can we maximize quality of life, maximize creating a life that is valuable and meaningful to them? One of the two places where my work can be helpful is in that real-world applied aspect. It’s also multidisciplinary, and it really highlights that—to solve those big problems—we have to be thinking together and working collaboratively.

What has been the biggest obstacle you’ve faced in your research and how have you managed to overcome those obstacles?

Shehu: There are many challenges for a researcher, but I think self-doubt is probably the biggest challenge. Everything else is outside, but self-doubt is probably the most difficult, because it’s inside of you. You get better at it over time. It’s not that you’re NOT going to have it, but you point yourself to your experiences and your past accomplishments, and you convince yourself that you can do it again.

Adams: One of the biggest obstacles is we don’t have a medical school, and so much of my research is focused on folks who have medical conditions. The way that I’ve overcome that is the way that I’ve tried to overcome everything—that is, finding collaborators, finding other folks to kind of put our heads together and work through.

Did you always know that you wanted to be an educator?

Shehu: I always knew I wanted to be a scientist. I remember in high school telling one of my friends that if I ever became somebody who sat in front of his computer 10 hours a day, I would not be happy. But I’m happy to say I’m NOT sitting 10 hours a day in front of my computer. What I actually enjoy and have been very good at is working with people, with my collaborators and with my students.

Adams: Absolutely not. I always thought that I was going to be a journalist. As a child, I was the one kid who was watching “20/20.” I was like “Barbara Walters is everything.” I loved Barbara Walters, I loved the interviews and all those kinds of things.

Can you tell me something about you that people wouldn’t know just from reading your bio?

Shehu: I am very much into fitness. I find that exercise is very effective at blocking other pain pathways, which tend to accumulate as you advance in age Lately, since the pandemic started, I have gotten much more into running. When I run, I like to mix it up in my music choices, mainly international music and European pop. Lately, I have started to listen more to African American gospel music. The music does a great deal to distract me from the aches and pains of running. And there is just so much history and culture in those songs that, being raised in a different country, I have completely missed on. I am catching up.

Adams: I’m very into baking, and I think I even take a scientific approach in that. I have so many cookbooks. I’m like a lot of people who like to cook—you just collect them, and you don’t actually cook out of them. I’ve started a year of cooking where every week I’m going to cook a different recipe in one of my cookbooks. But I’m also rating it on a quality scale of 0 to 10 and keeping notes about how to improve it. I’ve already done four weeks.

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Computer science faculty member receives SCHEV award

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 15:25:29 +0000

Computer science faculty member receives SCHEV award Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 12/17/2021 - 10:25

In This Story

Amarda Shehu

��AV’s Amarda Shehu and Leah Adams were among 12 Virginia educators honored by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) as 2022 Outstanding Faculty Award recipients, the council announced Thursday.

Established in 1987, the awards recognize faculty at Virginia institutions of higher learning who exemplify the highest standards of teaching, scholarship, and service. Institutions select the nominees. A panel of peers reviews the applications, and a committee of leaders from the public and private sectors selects the final recipients. This year, the program received 85 nominations. The 12 recipients were selected from a pool of 25 finalists.

Amarda Shehu is a professor in the Department of Computer Science in the School of Computing. Her research bridges the fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning, engineering, and the life sciences. As one of the founders and co-directors of the Center for Advancing Human-Machine Partnerships, she advances computer science research to promote scientific discoveries in other fields and address real-world problems.

She is the 2021 recipient of Mason’s Beck Family Presidential Medal for Faculty Excellence in Research and Scholarship, the 2018 University Teaching Excellence Award, and the 2013 OSCAR Undergraduate Mentoring Excellence Award. She is also a recipient of an NSF CAREER Award, as well as various research awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF), state and private funding agencies. She received a bachelor’s degree in computer science and mathematics from Clarkson University, and her master’s and PhD in computer science from Rice University.

“This is another well-deserved feather in Amarda’s cap, demonstrating once again what a great scholar she is, as well as being a great asset to Mason and Virginia," says David Rosenblum, chair of the Department of Computer Science.

Leah Adams, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and in the Women and Gender Studies program in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, was named a Rising Star recipient. The “Rising Star” category was created in 2004 to recognize faculty with more than two complete years of full-time experience, but less than six. Since 2010, two Rising Star recipients have been named each year.

Previous Outstanding Faculty Award recipients from Mason include 2021 Rising Star Andrew Peterson and 2020 honoree Cynthia Lum. Adams and Shehu bring the number of Mason recipients of the award to 25.

Each recipient of the 2022 Outstanding Faculty Awards will receive a $7,500 gift from Dominion Energy at an in-person ceremony on March 1.

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Two from Mason named Outstanding Faculty Award recipients by SCHEV

Melanie Balog — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 16:08:05 +0000

Two from Mason named Outstanding Faculty Award recipients by SCHEV Melanie Balog Thu, 12/16/2021 - 11:08

In This Story

Amarda Shehu

��AV’s Leah Adams and Amarda Shehu were among 12 Virginia educators honored by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) as 2022 Outstanding Faculty Award recipients, the council announced Thursday.

Established in 1987, the awards recognize faculty at Virginia institutions of higher learning who exemplify the highest standards of teaching, scholarship and service. Institutions select the nominees. A panel of peers reviews the applications, and a committee of leaders from the public and private sectors selects the final recipients. This year, the program received 85 nominations. The 12 recipients were selected from a pool of 25 finalists.

Adams

Adams is a recognized leader in health disparities research, with emphases on HIV, mental health, and adaptation to chronic illness and injury. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond, and her master’s and PhD in clinical psychology from ��AV. Prior to returning to Mason to teach, she completed a pre-doctoral residency in rehabilitation psychology and neuropsychology at the University of Washington Medical Center, where she won the Nancy Robinson, Ph.D. Award for Outstanding Overall Achievement.

Amarda Shehu is a professor in the Department of Computer Science in the School of Computing. Her research bridges the fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning, engineering and the life sciences. As one of the founders and co-directors of the Center for Advancing Human-Machine Partnerships, she advances computer science research to promote scientific discoveries in other fields and address real-world problems.

Shehu

She is a 2021 recipient of Mason’s Beck Family Presidential Medal for Faculty Excellence in Research and Scholarship, the 2018 University Teaching Excellence Award and the 2013 OSCAR Undergraduate Mentoring Excellence Award. She is also a recipient of an NSF CAREER Award, as well as various research awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF), state and private funding agencies. She received a bachelor’s degree in computer science and mathematics from Clarkson University, and her master’s and PhD in computer science from Rice University.

Each recipient of the 2022 Outstanding Faculty Awards will receive a $7,500 gift from Dominion Energy at an in-person ceremony on March 1.

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Mason’s Andrew Peterson honored as 2021 Outstanding Faculty Award recipient

John Hollis — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 20:26:02 +0000

Mason’s Andrew Peterson honored as 2021 Outstanding Faculty Award recipient John Hollis Thu, 12/10/2020 - 15:26

Andrew Peterson was among the 12 honorees awarded Outstanding Faculty Awards by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Photo provided.

��AV’s Andrew Peterson was among the 12 educators from around the state honored by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) with its 2021 Outstanding Faculty Awards.

Peterson, an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, was selected as a “Rising Star” from among 72 original nominees.

The award is the highest honor for faculty at Virginia’s public and private institutions of higher learning, recognizing those who exemplify the highest standards of teaching, scholarship and service. Nominees are selected by the institutions, reviewed by a panel of peers and chosen by committee of leaders from the public and private sectors. Peterson becomes Mason’s 23rd overall selection since the award’s inception in 1987.

“It means a great deal to me,” he said of the honor. “I come from a humble academic background. I attended state schools for the majority of my academic training, and for what I lack in intelligence, I've always tried to make up in hard work. I also grew up in the military family but took a leap of faith to pursue an academic career rather than enlisting. The SCHEV Rising Star Award gives me confidence that I chose the right path.”

The “Rising Star” category was created in 2004 to recognize faculty with more than two complete years of full-time experience, but less than six. Beginning in 2010, two Rising Star recipients are selected annually.

Provost and Executive Vice President Mark R. Ginsberg lauded Peterson for making a difference in the lives of Mason students.

“He is a wonderful example of an inspiring faculty member who supports our students and helps to change their lives,” Ginsberg said. “His breadth of research also is impressive while demonstrating a solid record of engaged and transformative work. He is a dynamic and student-centered instructor and mentor, and a respected scholar—the perfect combination for an exemplar for a “Rising Star”—and well-deserved recognition by SCHEV.”

Working in Mason’s Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy since 2016, Peterson has quickly established himself as an up-and-coming leader in the field of bioethics. His expertise in health-driven and evidence-based strategies could help policymakers forge a comprehensive approach to a COVID-19 vaccine strategy that benefits all Americans.

CHSS Dean Ann Ardis credited Peterson for fostering the next generation of scholars through his innovative classes, commitment to mentoring and outstanding bioethics teaching.

“Andrew Peterson is an outstanding scholar-teacher who represents the distinctive strengths of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Mason,” Ardis said. “His cutting-edge ethical research on brain trauma and dementia exemplifies how CHSS faculty address essential questions and provide solutions to social problems, while demonstrating the intellectual flexibility to pivot, as he has done in his recent work on the COVID-19 pandemic. Andrew epitomizes the world-class research and engaged teaching and mentoring on which our college thrives.”

Previous Outstanding Faculty Award recipients from Mason have included 2020 honoree Cynthia Lum, and Jeff Offutt and Charlotte Gill, both of whom were recognized in 2019.

“It is immensely satisfying,” Peterson said of the recognition. “But I'm also mindful of the many other faculty members across Virginia who are deserving of recognition. This year has been exceptionally difficult for all Americans, not least university communities. I am in awe of the educators across Virginia who have raised heaven and earth to fulfill their mission in spite of the pandemic.”

Each recipient of the 2021 Outstanding Faculty Awards will receive a $7,500 gift from Dominion Energy and will be honored at a special virtual ceremony later next year.