University Times

Eleven Pitt faculty members are recipients of the 1995 Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching, Research and Public Service Awards.

Public service award winners are Y.H. Ismail, prostho-dontics, School of Medicine; Carmelo Mesa-Lago, economics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS); and Richard J. Ptach-cinski, pharmacy and therapeutics, School of Pharmacy.

The distinguished researchers, all from FAS, include senior scholars David P. Gauthier, philosophy; Robert Glaser, psychology (Glaser also co-directs the Learning Research and Development Center); and Kenneth D. Jordan, chemistry; also, junior scholars Rob D. Coalson, chemistry, and Sabine Hake, Germanic languages and literatures.

Teaching award winners are David Bartholomae, English, FAS; Bernard Hibbitts of the law school, and Jacqueline M. Lamb of the nursing school.

Each honoree receives a $2,000 cash prize and $3,000 to support his or her public service, research or teaching.

Chancellor J. Dennis O'Connor cited Ismail's "sustained contributions to public service in the specialized area of prosthodontics and to the dental profession in general, which have brought international acclaim to the University and the School of Dental Medicine." Mesa-Lago was praised by O'Connor for his "extended involvement as a scholar of, and consultant to, numerous Latin American countries. This award also acknowledges these many contributions which have gone beyond the professional responsibility that the field would require." Ptachcinski was honored for "extramural service to the local community through your active participation on the Rx Council of Western Pennsylvania, for the organization of a volunteer program in which pharmacy students are placed in community settings to provide needed information to the local community, and for your work in the establishment of a 'free drug' program developed in cooperation with major pharmaceutical companies." The Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award is given in two categories. Senior scholar awards go to faculty who have outstanding records of research and scholarly activity and are pre-eminent in their fields. Junior scholar awards go to faculty who have demonstrated great scholarly potential.

Gauthier was recognized for his seminal work in ethics, particularly the relation between morality and decision and game theory. His work has had wide impact even beyond philosophy in disciplines such as economics. Other distinguished contributions were seen in his work on Hobbes and his other work as historian of moral philosophy.

Glaser was honored for his path-breaking work in the psychology of learning, cognition and instruction. Among his accomplishments are analyses of learning processes, studies of cognitive processes, pioneering work linking the psychology of learning and instruction, formulation of the concept of criterion-referenced testing, and founding the Learning Research and Development Center.

Jordan was recognized for his leadership in theoretical chemistry spanning the physical, inorganic and organic areas. Particularly cited were his studies of diradicals and his work on long-range intermolecular electron transfer, which has applications from electron transfer in biological systems to energy transfer and propagation of substituent effects.

Coalson, a theoretical chemist who specializes in quantum mechanical problems, has made major theoretical contributions to the understanding of chemical reactivity in complex systems, the scattering of light by large ions and, more recently, in fundamental work on colloidal crystals.

Hake has become an international authority on German film and culture between the two World Wars. Her knowledge of a vast archives of historical materials, her familiarity with a variety of disciplinary approaches, and her theoretical sophistication have enabled her to make major contributions to the analysis of the complex relationship between society and culture in this century.

In recognizing the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award recipients, O'Connor commended Bartholomae "for changing the way your students think by changing the ways they write, for your excellence as motivator and mentor, and for your long-term commitment to Freshman Writing." The chancellor cited Hibbitts's "ability to augment traditional Socratic teaching with alternative methods including stories, role-play, and media, for your consistent commitment to evaluating your different kinds of teaching efforts, for your ability to make difficult, often dry material exciting and comprehensible, and for your many out-of-classroom activities designed to help students." O'Connor praised Lamb's "achievement of teaching excellence in a wide variety of settings, your sustained commitment to undergraduates, your effectiveness in fostering students' recognition that independent, ongoing learning is essential to professional success in nursing, and for your excellence as a role model."

— Bruce Steele