The University at Albany
Excellence Awards
Each year, the University honors special members of its community with Excellence Awards, denoting sustained and profound contributions to the life of the campus. This year, 15 such men and women will receive this tribute.

Excellence in Professional Service
The Excellence in Professional Service award recognizes individuals who have repeatedly sought improvement of themselves and their campus, and, in doing so, have transcended the normal definitions of excellence. There are three winners in this category.

J. Philippe Abraham
A vital contributor to the improvement of the University’s academic advisement ratings, J. Philippe Abraham has been called an “unsung hero” for his work in the Advisement Services Center.

Abraham joined the Advisement Services Center in 1989. He is now the associate director of the ASC. An instructor in the former Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies since 1984, Abraham worked for several years in the Educational Opportunities Program, both as a teacher and as a supervisor of tutors. His work with the Office of Disabled Student Services was rewarded with the Disabled Student Services Achievement Award in 1993.

Gifted with a “magical” touch when dealing with students, Abraham is responsible for coordinating the assignment of new undergraduates, freshmen and transfers for academic advisement and for providing faculty and professional advisers with the necessary materials and academic records of students. He supervises the student assistants and plays a major role in trouble-shooting at every orientation.

Known for his “sixth sense” when working with students, Abraham said he tries to balance being an academic adviser with being a friend, mentor, confessor and confidant. Based on the support of many of his students, he has done just that. A unanimous choice for his award by the selection committee, Abraham has served as chair of the search committee for an Assistant Director of Residential Life, and has been a member of several committees formed to enrich the lives of students, such as the College of Fine Arts Committee. He was the scholarship adviser to the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.

Anne Boehm
According to her colleagues, Anne Boehm is a team player who possesses boundless energy, enthusiasm, creativity, and knowledge in her role as assistant to the chair of the Department of Biological Sciences. A fountain of information for more than 20 years in her department, Boehm is known for her innovative skills in problem solving, decision-making, and leadership.

Boehm’s daily goals include her belief that the “common welfare should come first; personal progress for the greatest number depends on unity; and participation is the key to harmony.” Her commitment to a team approach often results in developing a consensus during her committee work, although she rarely fails to take a leadership role. Her involvement and interactions with other members of the University community allow her to see the overall picture and to solve problems in the long term. As an example, she was instrumental in developing a requirement that all international teaching assistants take and attain an acceptable score on the standardized test of spoken English before entering the classroom to teach undergraduates.

Boehm organized an ACCESS User Group that meets regularly to share information regarding that database software, and she served as a senior adviser for sexual harassment for the past 12 years, but her contributions outside the University are also impressive. A volunteer in the American Red Cross “Learn How to Swim” program for the last 25 years, Boehm also served as a fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association. She has volunteered to help with the Equinox Thanksgiving Dinner since 1996, and is considered an outstanding role model both within and outside her department.

Maritza Martinez
Helping students succeed is Maritza Martinez’s priority as the assistant dean for Academic Affairs in the Office of Academic Support Services. Martinez understands the student experience, having received her master’s degree from the University herself in 1985. She left the University to become director of the EOP/Multi-Cultural Student Affairs office at Schenectady County Community College, but she returned in 1995 to the position she now holds. One of Martinez’s goals is to catch problems, especially those of first-year students, before they become worse. She has been instrumental in supervising many academic support services, such as a Study Group Plan, which involves small group study sessions for 28 freshman courses. Martinez communicates with professors about students at risk, and she both organizes study workshops and manages a faculty-mentoring program. Martinez also excels in her leadership role. She chaired the Women’s Concerns Committee, the Council of Women’s Groups, and Alianza Latina. Other committee memberships of note include the Diversity Task Force, Faculty Senate’s Undergraduate Academic Council, Initiatives For Women, and National Coalition Building Institute. Known as a superb student advocate, Martinez’s commitment and service have been recognized through a number of awards and honors, including the Bread and Roses Award, YMCA Woman of the ’90s, the Governor’s Hispanic-American Medal of Distinction, and the Outstanding EOP Director Award. Recently, she was nominated for the National 2000 Student Advocate Award.

Excellence in Teaching
The Award for Excellence in Teaching recognizes faculty members for their skill, innovation, and dedication to teaching and academic advising. This year the University honors two colleagues for their excellence in this category.

Hayward D. Horton
Providing a safe learning atmosphere for his students is one of Professor Hayward D. Horton’s strengths in the Department of Sociology. The core of his teaching philosophy is mutual respect. He requires active participation in his classroom and wants all of his students to feel free to express their viewpoints, no matter how unorthodox they may be.

Professor Horton consistently receives instructor ratings above 4.0 on a 5.0 scale, and he often is rated above 4.5. One of the department’s most popular teachers, Professor Horton makes it a point to be at his best every day, no matter how he feels at the time. “Some days are better than others,” he states. “But I don’t worry about it because I was the best I could be that day.”

In the areas of demography and race and ethnicity, Professor Horton’s scholarship has been nationally recognized. He has published one book, eight book chapters, six book reviews and 18 journal articles. He is also the associate editor for Rural Sociology and Race and Society as well as the deputy editor for Sociology Forum. An active member in several professional societies, Professor Horton was the founder and organizer of the Population Interest Group at the 1999 Eastern Sociological Society. Last year, he was elected the chair-elect of the American Sociological Association’s section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities.

Professor Horton has a strong reputation as a mentor. He founded the undergraduate Sociology Club and served as its adviser in 1997-99. As director of undergraduate education within the Department of Sociology, Professor Horton organizes the advisement of both continuing and transferring students and oversees events such as the honors reception. His availability to his students is enhanced by the fact that he is a member of the University’s Faculty-in-Residence program.

Stephen M. North
A homegrown talent, Professor Stephen M. North graduated from the University in 1979 and joined the faculty in 1981. He was promoted to associate professor in 1987 and to professor in 1998. A visiting professor at Shandong University in China in 1988-89, Professor North received a joint appointment as a Fulbright Professor of English at Turku University and Abo Akademi in Turku, Finland during 1996-97.

One of the English Department’s shining lights, Professor North views himself as a “teacher of writing and a teacher of teachers of writing.” His teaching experiences are extremely varied, from one-on-one tutoring in the Writing Center through course work at the graduate level. He has taught 28 separate courses during his University tenure.

Known as a nationally visible scholar in the fields of rhetoric, composition, and literacy studies, Professor North has published two books, seven book chapters and 15 articles in refereed journals. He founded and served as editor of the National Council of Teachers of English’s Refiguring English Studies book series. His first book, The Making of Knowledge in Composition: Portrait of an Emerging Field, was published in 1987 and is required reading in virtually every graduate writing program in the country.

Professor North has directed 15 doctoral dissertations and has served on 15 Ph.D. and 21 D.A. examination committees. Many graduate students refer to Professor North as one of the teacher-scholars who influenced their own teaching and scholarship the most.

Excellence in Librarianship
The Award for Excellence in Librarianship recognizes extraordinary achievement and dedication in library science. This year the University honors two colleagues for their excellence in this category.

Otis A. Chadley
Otis A. Chadley excels in librarianship, scholarship, and service. With more than 23 years of professional library experience, Chadley is a skilled and active instructor in information access and management. Currently an associate librarian, Chadley is both a reference librarian and database services coordinator.

During his career, Chadley has occupied a variety of positions at both the University Library and at the Dewey Graduate Library. He is known as an outstanding reference librarian and is considered a cornerstone for quality reference services. Also a strong scholar, Chadley’s article “Addressing Cultural Diversity in Academic and Research Libraries” was published in College and Research Libraries.

As a member of the Multicultural Internship/Library Education (MILES) program, Chadley was responsible for designing internship programs for undergraduate students who were considering librarianship as a profession. He has also worked to improve library services for persons with disabilities and has a significant service record within the department’s various committees.

Laura Cohen
Associate Librarian Laura Cohen is both the network services librarian and webmaster for the University Libraries. Her record demonstrates continued excellence in librarianship, scholarship and service, but her strength and expertise relate to the use of the Internet for bibliographic and information retrieval. She has developed and maintained an award-winning Web page.

Cohen was appointed as the network services librarian in 1996 after a national search. She was promoted to senior assistant librarian in 1998 and became an associate librarian in 2000. The driving force behind the University Library’s presence on the World Wide Web, Cohen practically built its Web site all by herself.

Also a scholar and writer of note, Cohen has written four refereed articles, five invited articles, six unrefereed articles and two book chapters. She was guest editor of The Reference Librarian. All librarians and future librarians should read her four Choice essays from 1997-2000 to learn more about the Internet as a research tool.

Beyond her scholarly output and reference work with the Web, Cohen also has a strong record of service, including assignments on the Personnel Policies Committee, the Web Site Advisory Committee, the SUNY Libraries Association and the SUNY Connect Advisory Council. She has volunteered to be an exam proctor for Disabled Student Services, and serves on several State University of New York Librarians Association committees. Cohen shares her skills and knowledge with colleagues, students, and faculty.

Excellence in Academic Services
The University Award for Excellence in Academic Service is presented to members of the teaching faculty who have demonstrated leadership and service to the University over a sustained period. There are two honorees this year.

David McCaffrey
A tireless and versatile leader in the University’s Department of Public Administration and Policy for nearly 20 years, David McCaffrey also continues to be one of its most sought-after doctoral student mentors, as well as an outstanding teacher. Professor McCaffrey has served his department in a variety of roles since the early 1980s, including acting as its chair from 1986 through 1989.

McCaffrey stepped forward to serve as the doctoral program director on two separate occasions, from 1983-86 and 1991-92, and he accepted the call to direct the MPA three times, from 1992-93, 1995-96 and 1999 to the present. During his tenure as director of the MPA program, he has overseen and contributed to the revisions of its core and field requirements. Despite his time constraints as an administrator, McCaffrey’s students praised him for his accessibility and his helpfulness.

Service to the University, his department, and to his academic profession have been McCaffrey’s calling card. He served as the Silver Anniversary Steering Committee co-chairman from 1996-98, was a member of the Programs Task Force in 1999-2000, and was also a member of the Task Force on Mission Review and Honors Initiatives. Additionally, McCaffrey earned the Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 1999. Since 1998, Professor McCaffrey has served on the University Senate, where he is now the chairman, and he was a member of the CPCA from 1998 through 2000. He has also served as Program Chair and Division Chair of the Public and Nonprofit Division of the Academy of Management, and was a member of the University Council in 1999-2000. He was a co-editor of a special issue of the Academy of Management Journal.

Charles Rougle
Charles Rougle continues to contribute to the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures both as an administrator and as a teacher. His department has undergone major restructuring on several occasions, but Rouge’s leadership was instrumental in providing a smooth transition.

Professor Rougle’s administrative responsibilities included chairing the joint departments of Germanic and Slavic Languages & Literatures from 1995-97, heading the Department of Hispanic & Italian Studies in 1996-97, and chairing the new Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures in 1997-98. He directed the University in the High Schools Program from 1991 through 1994, the Program in Russian & East European Studies from 1998 to the present, and the undergraduate program in Russian since 1998. A specialist in Russian, Professor Rougle has served as the graduate liaison in the University in the High Schools Program from 1991 to the present, as well as the graduate adviser in Russian from 1995 to 1998. He was the undergraduate adviser in Russian from 1985-95 and from 1998 to the present.

Rougle teaches and coordinates the introductory Russian program and serves as both a judge and the organizing chair of the finals of the New York State Olympiada of Spoken Russian. Beyond his service to the University itself, Professor Rougle has taken a leadership role in bringing Russian into the New York public high schools. He maintains contact with Russian teachers across the state and visits their classrooms. In that same mode, he has made the Olympiada of Spoken Russian one of the University’s outstanding events, where as many as 500 students come to campus for a one-day competition to identify the most outstanding Russian students at all levels of study and competence.

Excellence in Support Services
The Excellence in Support Services Award recognizes staff members’ extraordinary achievement and contributions in support of the University’s academic and research aims, and its overall sense of community. Three individuals are honored this year.

Ellen B. Kelly
Ellen B. Kelly is a keyboard specialist in the Department of Physics, where she began her long and successful career as the department’s stenographer in 1967. Kelly moved to a position in the Nuclear Accelerator Laboratory in 1977 and returned to the physics department in 1995. She currently serves as secretary to the chair, faculty and staff of the department, as well as to the Graduate Admissions Committee.

Among Kelly’s responsibilities are preparing and processing faculty teaching evaluations, controlling admissions to the undergraduate laboratories, maintaining systems of tracking grades, assigning faculty advisers to physics majors, and keeping the ratio of faculty-to-students balanced.

Kelly was a valuable source of assistance when the physics department moved from the Downtown Campus to the “new campus.” She helped in the preparation of the undergraduate curriculum and the establishment of the doctoral program as the campus expanded. Kelly used her kind demeanor and good sense of humor to make visitors feel at ease during the department’s annual four-week course in Wavelength and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry. Graduate students have praised her for her knowledge of the process of work tracking, and visitors to a major international conference gave her accolades for her ability to assist them with lost luggage, find medical attention, and find information about restaurants and entertainment. Kelly has always exceeded the expectations of her position to the betterment of her department and the University.

Josephine Smith
Josephine Smith performs her duties as secretary to the Dean of the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy with a polished and unflappable demeanor cultivated by 30-plus years with the University. Smith joined the University work force as a stenographer in the Capital Area School Development Association. Since then she has worked for the Office of Undergraduate Studies and the Center of Undergraduate Education before moving to the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs in 1989.

Known as the “point person” for the college, she represents the dean’s office in all communications. Smith is the department’s expert on hiring and human resource issues. She also chairs the college’s special events committee and mentors new staff.

Smith volunteers her time quite freely. She not only created but is also the chair for the Rockefeller College Special Events Committee, which plans the Distinguished Alumni Award Reception, the Burton Lecture, and the Political Science Honors Convocation. Smith created and chairs the College’s Quality Circle Committee, which among its other duties raises funds for charity. She is also a founding member of the University’s Secretarial/Clerical Council and works with that group’s special events committee to organize annual professional development workshops.

Mary Unser
Nicknamed the Department of Reading’s “chair,” secretary Mary Unser began her relationship with the University in 1965 in the Research Foundation. She moved to the state payroll as a stenographer in the biology department in 1969 before joining the reading department as a stenographer in 1972. Unser serves as the office manager along with her duties as secretary to the department chair and faculty.

Among Unser’s duties are maintaining student and department files, assigning faculty advisers, and assisting with the registration process. She tracks all graduate admissions, advises the chair when applications are up or down, and makes sure applicants receive the appropriate response before following up on all correspondence. Unser also hands out welcome packets once a student is admitted.

Unser is a problem solver who handles primary advisement of master’s degree students. She developed a database to monitor student progress and provided a solution to problems arising from the new telephone registration system’s approval codes. Unser also developed waiting lists for over-subscribed courses and advises the department when there is sufficient demand for additional sections.

Her competent, caring, and thoughtful manner kept the department grounded as the workplace changed with the introduction of technology.

Excellence in Research
The Award for Excellence in Research recognizes outstanding research and scholarship by members of the faculty over a sustained number of years. There are three recipients in this category.

Lance Bosart
Lance Bosart’s achievements in his field of earth and atmospheric sciences are far reaching - so much so that his work affects millions of people daily. His research shapes the forecasting procedures of the National Weather Service. To that end, he received the Jule G. Charney Award of the American Meteorological Society in 1992. The award, the second-most prestigious honor given by the AMS, recognizes highly significant research or development in the atmospheric or hydrospheric sciences. His work is also published in the Monthly Weather Review, the “world’s premier venue for serious and quantitative research in the atmospheric sciences and meteorology.”

Bosart has published 109 peer-reviewed or chapter articles, and he has received or contributed to 42 distinct external grants from funding agencies that include NSF, NOAA, ONR, UCAR and the U.S. Air Force. All told, Bosart’s grants generated nearly $7 million in external awards.

Beyond his own stellar research, Bosart is known to be a successful mentor. Twenty of his 23 doctoral students have already graduated, and 16 have attained either professorships or high-level positions at other prestigious institutions. He has also mentored 53 master’s students and seven post-doctoral students. Three of his post-doctoral students have gone on to become renowned scientists in their own field.

Honored last January at the State University of New York Recognition Dinner Honoring Research in Science and Medicine, Bosart held editorships for Monthly Weather Review and Weather Forecasting, both AMS-sponsored journals.

He continues to be a distinguished scholar of national stature.

Joachim Frank
Joachim Frank, a distinguished scientist at the Wadsworth Center for 26 years, has been a member of the faculty of the School of Public Health since its inception in 1986. His pivotal role in the development of the field of molecular electron microscopy culminated with the publication of his papers on the structure of the ribosome and on the protein elongation cycle in the prestigious Nature, Science and Cell. Frank’s research group includes biophysicists, biochemists, theoretical physicists and computer scientists. Their findings led to the formulation of a model for protein translation, and the research may lead to new strategies for the development of anti-viral drugs.

Professor Frank has also trained numerous visiting scientists, undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows in his laboratory. He is co-director of the biomedical sciences track in Structural Cell Biology and the director of the Wadsworth Resource for Visualization of Biological Complexity. Among Frank’s accolades was the Elizabeth Roberts Cole Award from the Biophysical Society in 1993. He also chaired one of the first Gordon Conferences on three-dimensional electron microscopy.

Frank continues to be a major innovative force in his field. He is the only scholar in the region to receive the prestigious senior investigatorship in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. During his distinguished career, he has worked in laboratories throughout the U.S. and Europe and is one of the University’s most highly prized re-searchers.

Norma Riccucci
Norma Riccucci of the Department of Public Administration and Policy Department has been a prolific researcher and writer since she became an assistant professor at the University in 1985. She was promoted to associate professor in 1991 and to full professor in 1998.

One of her favorite research themes is social equity, particularly the role public employee unions played in advancing or deterring the employment paths of women and people of color. Her first book, Women, Minorities and Unions in the Public Sector, addressed that topic. She has also been interested in researching public personnel management, such as drug testing and labor relations. A third strand of her research focus involves public management - how the government in general and public administration in particular can improve the quality of life for Americans.

Riccucci ranked ninth in outstanding productivity among all public administration scholars for the period of 1986 to 1993. She wrote five monographs, two edited volumes and some 36 articles and book chapters in 15 years at the University. A highly effective teacher, Riccucci also served as the director of the master of administration program from June 1990 to June 1992 and chaired the public management concentration in the Ph.D. program for several years. She is currently the director of the doctoral program in public administration.

Riccucci has held a joint appointment in the Department of Women’s Studies since 1992, and she served as director of the Certificate Program in Women and Public Policy from 1990 to August 1995. Her reputation in the area of public personnel management is evidenced by her invitation to prepare a research paper for the National Commission on the State and Local Public Service.

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