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March 30, 1995

UPG faculty cited for excellence

Three faculty members from Pitt's Greensburg campus have been cited for excellence in teaching, professional development and service.

Lillian Beeson, Alicia Covarrubias and Mary Beth Spore were selected for the awards by colleagues who themselves have won University-wide honors in the same areas.

Beeson was named UPG faculty member of the year for her excellence in teaching.

An associate professor of communications, Beeson teaches public speaking, a course that is required for all UPG students and one that is known to make most students apprehensive.

In choosing her for the award, the committee noted that Beeson's "students consistently praised her for establishing a classroom climate in which they feel at ease," while at the same time "maintaining high standards and establishing clear ground rules." Covarrubias was honored for outstanding professional development.

Along with teaching at UPG, Covarrubias is the seminar and field trip director for the Center for Latin American Studies on the Pittsburgh campus, where she has been conducting seminars to prepare students for research they will be doing in Argentina this summer.

In addition, Covarrubias published an article in the Journal of Latin American Literary Criticism on the Mexican author Luis Zapata and delivered a paper on Argentinian poets at a Foreign Language Association conference held at Duquesne University. She also was named as the only United States board member of the Center for the Study of Culture, Language and Civilization of the River Plata Region of South America, based in Paris, and was designated the Pittsburgh correspondent for the Argentina-based Journal of Latin American Literary Criticism.

Spore was presented with the service award for her many and varied contributions to both the Greensburg campus and her community.

During the past year, Spore has served on the college skills committee, the English search committee, as an adviser to the student newspaper and the English honor society, and as faculty representative to the UPG advisory board.

Off campus she was an English consultant for Queen of Angels Regional Catholic School and a guest speaker for the Norwin School District during National Education Week.

Spore's activities have included serving as president and secretary of the Faculty Senate, as a member of the Senate's planning and budget committee, as a member of the Diocese of Greensburg transition team and as capital campaign chairperson and alumni board member for Greensburg Central Catholic High School.


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