In Short

Ceremony to honor 24 outstanding teachers

Twenty-four College of Liberal Arts and Sciences professors and instructors will be honored for their teaching contributions today at the 11th annual John Eliot Allen Outstanding Teacher Awards.

The awards ceremony, named after John Eliot Allen, a PSU professor who taught throughout the1950s and 1960s, will be held from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Smith Memorial Student Union, room 355. A reception with free food will follow the ceremony.

Professors were selected based on input of 327 students, and 245 total faculty received votes this year. Each winner will receive $500 and a plaque. Funding for the prize money came from various students, alumni, faculty, secretaries and administrators.

This year will also see the first ever four-time winner of the award, physics professor Pui-Tak Leung. There was one winner for each participating department or program in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Award recipients (listed alphabetical by department or program):

Anthropology: Sharon CarstensApplied Linguistics: Keith WaltersBiology: Mark FishbeinChemistry: Dean AtkinsonCommunication: Darlene GeigerConflict Resolution: Barbara TintEconomics: Hiroyuki ItoEnglish (Writing): Paul CollinsEnglish (Literature): Amy GreenstadtEnvironmental Sciences: William FishForeign Language (German): Steven FullerForeign Language (Japanese): Patricia WetzelGeography: Martin LafrenzGeology: Benjamin PerkinsHistory: Tim GarrisonIELP (ESL): Hilary WangInternational Studies: Stephen FrenkelMathematics: Joyce O’HalloranPhilosophy: Kevin HillPhysics: Pui-Tak LeungPsychology: Thomas KindermannSociology: Melissa ThompsonSpeech and Hearing Sciences: Thomas DolanStatistics: Jong Kim

–Stover E. Harger III

Two to be inducted into engineer hall of fame

On June 13, at the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science, Ph.D. student Diana Laboy-Rush and astronaut Sunita Williams will be inducted in to the Denice Dee Denton Women Engineers Hall of Fame.

The Women Engineers Hall of Fame was designed by Portland State to honor contributions of women who have worked to advance technology and engineering.

Williams, a United States Navy commander and astronaut, has served as flight engineer on the International Space Station, received multiple awards and commendations through the Navy and has twice broken world records for females in space, according to a PSU Communications press release.

Laboy-Rush, is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in engineering and technology management at PSU and is also the president of Portland Wiz Kids, a business that seeks to engage children in the field of engineering and problem solving.

“Ms. Williams and Ms. Laboy-Rush are very accomplished women and serve as role models for those students, particularly female students, who wish to pursue careers in the fields of engineering and technology,” said Robert Dryden, dean of the Maseeh College.

The induction ceremony for the two will be held during the Maseeh College’s All College Graduation Reception, where both women will speak before the graduating classes.

-Melinda Bardon