Faculty Award Recipients
Faculty Excellence Awards
The President’s Fritz B. Burns Distinguished Teaching Award
Jonas Mureika, Physics*
Seaver College of Science & Engineering
The Rains Award for Excellence in Service
Blake Mellor, Mathematics*
Seaver College of Science & Engineering
The Rains Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Works
Christopher Chapple, Theological Studies*
Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts
LMU Award for Excellence in Extramural Funding
Rosalynde LeBlanc Loo, Theatre Arts & Dance*
College of Communication & Fine Arts
The Part-Time Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award, Fall 2019
Angelique Young, Writing and Rhetorical Arts*
Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts
The Part-Time Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award, Spring 2020
Hugh Blake, Philosophy*
Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts
*Bios below
LMU Ascending Scholar Awards
David Clawson, Screenwriting
School of Film and Television
Jongyeon Ee, Teaching and Learning
School of Education
Louvenia Jackson, Marital and Family Therapy
College of Communication & Fine Arts
Sunai Kim, Civil Engineering
Seaver College of Science & Engineering
Mairead Sullivan
Women's and Gender Studies
Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts
Retirement Honorees
Najwa Al-Qattan, History, Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts
Stephanie August, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Seaver College of Science & Engineering
Matthew Dillon, Classics and Archaeology, Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts
John H. Dorsey, Civil Engineering, Seaver College of Science & Engineering
Steven J. Mailloux, English, Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts
Teresa Munoz, Art & Art History, College of Communication & Fine Arts
Candace A. Poindexter, Elementary and Secondary Education, School of Education
Abhik Roy, Communication Studies, College of Communication & Fine Arts
Nader Saniei, Mechanical Engineering, Seaver College of Science & Engineering
Jeff Sanny, Physics, Seaver College of Science & Engineering
Thomas M. Zachariah, Mathematics, Seaver College of Science & Engineering
Faculty Service Awards
Ten Years of Service
Emily A. Jarvis
Stephanie A. Limoncelli
Evelyn L. McDonnell
Einat S. Metzl
Bernadette B. Musetti
Judy H. Park
Eliza M. Rodriguez Y Gibson
Mona N. Seymour
Erin C. Stackle
Eric G. Strauss
Stephen G. Ujlaki
Sijun Wang
Fifteen Years of Service
Hawley C. Almstedt
Monica E. Cabrera
Kam D. Dahlquist
Kurt Daugherty
Franca Dell'Olio
Emily S. Fisher
Elizabeth B. Henley
Dorothea K. Herreiner
Ignacio Higareda
Karen K. Huchting
Amir I. Hussain
Lawrence P. Kalbers
Patricia G. Martinez
Jeremy E.B. McCallum
Diane M. Meyer
David A. Moffet
Virgil M. Nemoianu
Jennifer G. Pate
Gregory F. Ruzzin
Beth A. Serlin
Kevin J. Wetmore
Damon M. Willick
Twenty Years of Service
Marta P. Baltodano
Stacy L. Burns
Robbie T. Nakatsu
Rodger J. Pardee
Kevin J. Peters
Antonia Petro
Mark E. Schwartz
Gabriele U. Varieschi
Kennedy A. Wheatley
Twenty-Five Years of Service
Philippa M. Drennan
Glenn H. Gebhard
Paul A. Harris
Petra U. Liedke-Konow
Mary McCullough
Jeffrey L. Wilson
Thirty Years of Service
Theresia De Vroom
Brian P. Leung
Mahmoud M. Nourayi
Kala Chand Seal
Michael R. Tang
Thirty-Five Years of Service
Christopher Chapple
Omar S. Es-Said
Jeffrey Gale
Michael E. Mills
Zbigniew H. Przasnyski
Forty Years of Service
Arthur Gross Schaefer
Jeff Sanny
Forty-Five Years of Service
Richard J. Perle
Awardee Bios
The President’s Distinguished Teaching Award is named after Mr. Fritz B. Burns, who during his lifetime was a major benefactor to Loyola Marymount University. The purpose of the award is to encourage and reward excellence in teaching at LMU. The 2020 recipient for the Fritz B. Burns Distinguished Teaching Award is Jonas Mureika, Professor of Physics.
Professor Mureika is a highly dedicated teacher who engages his students, both in and outside of the formal classroom setting with passion and “a penchant for performance.” He has taught Physics courses at all levels, for both science and engineering majors, as well as a core course for students across the university; consistently demonstrating his ability to communicate advanced science concepts in an easily-understood fashion, be it to STEM majors or non-science students. Professor Mureika’s enthusiasm draws students in to fully engage in the many active learning opportunities he provides. For instance, in 2005, Professor Mureika developed a new Core Course titled Weapons of Mass Destruction. In this course, students learn the scientific principles behind nuclear weapons and explore the social and ethical issues surrounding their use. This course has remained popular with students over the years and pushes them to make connections between science, society and ethics. As a culmination to this course, he takes the students on a tour of the Nevada National Security Site to see first-hand the relics of nuclear tests and their effects. His aim is that his students will develop a non-biased sense of these weapons and their physical effects, as well as gauge their political and sociological impact.
Professor Mureika excels as a mentor to his students. His collaborations with students have led to virtually all these students presenting at one or more professional meetings or conferences, and at least eight students have co-authored publications, many garnering various awards. He was awarded the 2018 Elizabeth and Michael Rudinica Award for Student-Faculty Research in recognition of his outstanding mentorship in research that enriches our students’ academic experience by his college. And, finally, in the words of one of his students, “He continuously offers my fellow academics and I the opportunity to grow in ways we otherwise never thought capable.”
The Rains Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Works, named after Mrs. Liliore G. Rains, was created to recognize a tenured member of the Loyola Marymount University faculty whose scholarship or creative activity exemplifies LMU’s mission in a manner that is both outstanding and meaningful. The 2020 recipient for the Rains Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Works is Christopher Key Chapple, Professor of Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology and founding Director of the Master of Arts in Yoga Studies.
Professor Chapple is a widely recognized scholar as well as a sought-after public speaker. He has published twenty books on topics that include studies of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Yoga, and religion and ecology, including several edited volumes that resonate with LMU’s Jesuit heritage (The Jesuit Tradition in Education and Missions) and LMU’s mission of faith and justice. Professor Chapple also is editor of the journal Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology.
In 2002, Professor Chapple established the first of several certificate programs in the study of Yoga at LMU’s Center for Religion and Spirituality and founded LMU’s Master of Arts in Yoga Studies in the fall of 2013. During the fall of 2019, Professor Chapple received a Fulbright Nehru Excellence Award, supporting four months of research and teaching in India. Professor Chapple has made additional substantive scholarly contributions, particularly around ecological issues as engaged in different religious traditions. During his outstanding and prolific professional career at LMU, Professor Chapple has also been the recipient of the Rains Award for Excellence in Service Award and the President’s Distinguished Teaching Award.
The Rains Award for Excellence in Service is named after Mrs. Liliore G. Rains, who was a major benefactor to Loyola Marymount University. The purpose of this award is to recognize a tenured member of the professoriate whose service exemplifies the LMU mission in a manner that is outstanding and meaningful. The 2020 recipient for the Rains Award for Excellence in Service Award is Blake Mellor, Professor of Mathematics.
Since 2002, Professor Mellor has shared his time, expertise, and passion with the university and beyond. His ability to collaborate and to identify and solve problems was mentioned consistently by his colleagues. Professor Mellor has displayed extraordinary leadership roles in the development and implementation of the current Core Curriculum, serving 9 years on the University Core Curriculum Committee, including 2 years as Chair in which he helped develop and implement the rollout of the new Core in Fall 2013. He has also served on many university committees, including the Chair of the Rank and Tenure committee, Faculty Senate, the Trustee’s Student Life Committee, the University Teacher Education Committee, the MaSTep Committee, and the Valedictorian Committee as well as a variety of other college, departmental committees, taskforces, and working groups, often in leadership positions.
Professor Mellor’s other passionate interest is mathematics education. He served as the Director of the Secondary Teacher Preparation Program (STPP) in Mathematics for 8 years, from 2007-2015, which included advising Liberal Studies (elementary education) majors concentrating in mathematics. And, this year he has again taken on the role of STPP Director. He has demonstrated his concern for the future of mathematics education in the wide variety of courses he has taught for future teachers, including the capstone course for future secondary teachers, upper and lower-division courses for future elementary school teachers, and courses for current teachers enrolled in the Master of Arts in Teaching program.
Beyond LMU, Professor Mellor’s interest in mathematics education has been evident and has had a lasting impact on La Ballona Elementary School in Culver City, where he worked with the principal and teachers to create La Ballona Math Circle, a 20-week, year-long program for students in Kindergarten through 3rd grade. In the program, students are challenged with fun puzzles and games that stimulate logical and spatial reasoning, giving them a way to both improve important reasoning skills, and to promote interest in mathematics. This work blended teaching through preparing program lessons, scholarship through writing successful grant proposals to support the work, and service through organizational activities. Professor Mellor has connected LMU students enrolled in teacher preparation courses with La Ballona Elementary School to participate as mentors in the Math Circle program. The program continues to enjoy success, and the school's PTA recognized Professor Mellor’s efforts by awarding him an Honorary Service Award in Spring 2018.
The LMU Award for Excellence in Extramural Funding was created by the Provost Office in 2019 to recognize a tenured member of the Loyola Marymount University faculty whose success in extramural funding exemplifies LMU’s mission in a manner that is both outstanding and meaningful. The 2020 recipient for the Award for Excellence in Extramural Funding is Rosalynde LeBlanc Loo, Associate Professor of Theatre Arts and Dance.
In 2019, Professor LeBlanc Loo was awarded an Arts and Cultural Heritage Grant of $100,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for her excellent work producing and co-directing a documentary film titled Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters. This film is about the power of art and dance during the HIV/AIDS pandemic. D-Man in the Waters is a “complex and nuanced choreography of dance and political activism, aesthetic genius and compassionate plea” that follows the brave battle of a man fighting AIDS in 1989. Professor LeBlanc Loo’s work explores the importance of history in movement, the effect of dance during challenging times, and its impact on future generations; creating a “deeper sense of community and an education grounded in feeling and empathy.” Through this project, Professor LeBlanc Loo is able to explore the social and cultural implications of dance with her students, analyzing it not only as a skill and technique but as an expression of the human experience.
One of her recommenders stated that “Rosalynde created a new partnership for LMU with one of the top foundations in the nation, and her documentary has not only been fulfilling the university's mission and goals by contributing to the common good of LMU's campus and our surrounding community and society at large, but has also influenced her academic and creative fields. Rosalynde is unequivocally dedicated to the university and its mission, and her exceptional work is an example of this.” Her work will definitely be a “nationally and internationally heralded piece of creative and artistic scholarship.”
Part Time Faculty Teaching Awards
Hugh William Blake is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy who has worked at LMU since completing his MA in Philosophy at LMU in 2010. In his narrative essay, Prof. Blake states that in teaching philosophy, his goal is “to engage students and get them to not only critically evaluate the material we are covering, but to critically evaluate themselves and their practices in light of it.” Prof. Blake’s success helping students to understand philosophy as a fascinating major and potential career path is reflected in the many majors and minors who are recruited annually from his courses, as noted by his Department Chair. Finally, as another expression of his desire to foster student philosophical reflection, Prof. Blake has been a long time judge for the National High School Ethics Bowl.
Angelique Young is a Writing/Rhetorical Arts Instructor with the University Core Curriculum. As an LMU alumna in English (BA & MA), Prof. Young states in her narrative essay that as a college professor, she is “driven by a scholarly inquiry in contemporary composition (and college) pedagogies”, a perspective which informs all she does as a teacher and scholar. According to a colleague, Prof. Young’s commitment to rigorous standards for her students reflects her commitment to social justice, “as those students who best learn to confidently and precisely state their evidence-based perspectives have the most potential to become empowered and responsible members of our public sphere.” Moreover, a former student said that Prof. Young “reaffirmed my love of writing and strengthened my confidence for the rest of my time in college.” Finally, Prof. Young’s commitment to social justice is also reflected in the writing workshops she offers at the California Institution for Women, where she is helping the inmates launch an Inmate Newsletter.