Nine Linfield University faculty members were honored for academic, teaching and service achievements during the 2023-24 year on May 16 at the annual Faculty Awards.
Six university-wide awards were given to nine faculty members:
Allen and Pat Kelley Faculty Scholar Award: Mindy Legard Larson, professor of education, and Joe Wilkins, chair of the Department of English and professor of English and environmental studies
Edith Green Distinguished Professor Award: Sandra Elena Terra, associate professor of global languages and cultural studies
Julie Olds and Thomas Hellie Creative Achievement Award: Claire O’Connor, Phillip Renshaw Emerging Writer in Residence
Marvin and Laurie Henberg International Scholarship Award: Tania Carrasquillo Hernández, associate professor of global languages and cultural studies; Jesús Ilundáin-Agurruza, professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy; and Sonia Priscila Ticas, professor of Spanish and Latin American studies
Samuel H. Graf Faculty Achievement Award: Andrew Baggett, associate professor of chemistry
Cathy and Dave Haugeberg School of Nursing Faculty Award for Leadership in Innovation and Excellence Award: Heidi Johnston, associate dean and associate professor of nursing
At the ceremony, deans from each school or college and Provost Beth Concepción highlighted each awardee.
Allen and Pat Kelley Faculty Scholar Award: Mindy Legard Larson and Joe Wilkins
Presented to a tenure-track or tenured faculty member in recognition of outstanding scholarly achievement in the preceding academic year. This year, there were two awardees. Gennie VanBeek, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, highlighted each winner.
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Mindy Legard Larson, professor of education
VanBeek writes:
“Mindy is a tremendous teacher, researcher, and scholar. The second edition of her Routledge text will be out soon and has filled a huge gap in early literacy research in teacher education — prior to this, there were no texts written with a focus on early elementary writing instruction.
“In all areas, she maintains a dogged pursuit of equity. As a colleague, I can say that she is truly a ‘heavy lifter’ in the department. She sets an example for all in being student-centered — high standards and high levels of support. Mindy and I have been colleagues for nearly three decades, and I value her deeply as a colleague and friend.
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Joe Wilkins, Chair of the Department of English and professor of English and environmental studies
VanBeek writes:
“I am so happy that one of my top-five favorite writers has earned this recognition. Joe also loves teaching — he is very reluctant to take a course release, as it would remove him further from the classroom, and he is already serving as department chair.
“The Readings @ the Nick writer series, which Joe leads, is an engaging mainstay of intellectual engagement at Linfield. He also had the vision to create the Renshaw Emerging Writer Residence program, which brings in wonderful writers such as Claire O’Conner.
“On a personal note, the characters in his novel ‘Fall Back Down When I Die’ were so relatable to me as someone who grew up in a rural area, then returned to teach in a rural area. He represented them with authenticity, not stereotypes. Finally, Joe received a starred review from Booklist for his next novel, ‘The Entire Sky,’ which is coming out July 2 from Little, Brown, and Company, the most prestigious literary imprint at Hachette. I can’t wait to read it!”
Edith Green Distinguished Professor Award: Sandra Elena Terra, associate professor of global languages and cultural studies
Presented to a faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding teaching effectiveness and includes holding the professorship for one year. VanBeek writes:
“The first time I attended Spanglish Day was during those three or so glorious days in the spring of 2022. I was so impressed by the event: it was a beautiful thing to see a room full of Spanish speaking students and faculty sharing their poetry and essays. It was a joy-filled experience and front and center was Sandra.
“During my first year as interim dean, Sandra was away on a full-year sabbatical in Spain. Even so, when her department needed her to teach a class, she stepped in to teach it online. Her nomination letter states, ‘Since joining our department Dr. Terra has demonstrated unwavering dedication to teaching and curriculum development, research, and service, bringing a considerable contribution to the growth of our academic community.’ We are grateful you are here, Sandra.”
Julie Olds and Thomas Hellie Creative Achievement Award: Claire O’Connor, Phillip Renshaw Visiting Writer in Residence
Presented to faculty who have completed an outstanding creative work that has been recognized by their peers and has been or is slated for dissemination in ways appropriate for the specific focus of the work. VanBeek writes:
“Claire serves as our inaugural Phillip Renshaw Emerging Writer in Residence. From her nomination letter: ‘She has quickly proved herself as an invaluable colleague and sought-after mentor here at Linfield, and — although we knew this from her application — she is a fiction writer on the verge of stardom.’ Wow — time to get those autographs, folks!
“Her reading from ‘Hydra’ at the Readings @ the Nick writer series was so compelling. Claire also was longlisted for the 2022 Discoveries Prize, one of the biggest prizes for emerging writers in the English-speaking world. It is a gift to have such a skilled writer in residence at Linfield.”
Marvin and Laurie Henberg International Scholarship Award: Tania Carrasquillo Hernández, Jesús Ilundáin-Agurruz and Sonia Priscila Ticas
Presented to a faculty member whose scholarly activity focuses on an international topic or theme, has passed peer review, and has been or is slated for publication on the basis of such review. This year, there were three awardees.
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Tania Carrasquillo Hernández, associate professor of global languages and cultural studies
VanBeek writes:
“For the past several years, Tania has engaged in interdisciplinary research that combines literature, history, music, visual arts, anthropology, anti slavery narratives, migration, gender and subaltern studies. She also explores the legacies of colonialism and transatlantic travel literature that reinforce research networks between the Hispanic Caribbean, Latin America, the United States and Europe from the nineteenth century to the present day.
“This award will support Tania’s work on a culminating book for this important research. Tania also recently published a chapter in the Palgrave Handbook of Transnational Women’s Writing in the Late Nineteenth Century. I look forward to getting to know Tania better in the coming years when she serves as department chair of global languages and cultural studies.”
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Jesús Ilundáin-Agurruza, professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy
VanBeek writes:
“Prior to becoming dean, I knew Jesús from seeing him bike by Potter Hall in the morning and from my appreciation for his wonderful salutations and valedictions in faculty emails (‘Dear Gentle Colleagues . . .’). It has been a pleasure to get to know him better and to see his skilled leadership of his department.
“In addition, I have learned he is a sought-after scholar of philosophy globally. He received this award for his outstanding scholarly achievement, which includes two recent and one forthcoming article in scholarly journals and books during 2023 and 2024. He has also been invited to give keynotes and talks at nine different international conferences from 2023 to 2025, though I expect there will be more. In addition, he has or will participate in four refereed international conference presentations during 2023 and 2024.”
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Sonia Priscila Ticas, professor of Spanish and Latin American studies
VanBeek writes:
“Sonia’s longstanding research has been in the area of women’s suffrage and the development of feminism and women writers in the first half of the 20th century in El Salvador. From her nomination: ‘Her book manuscript, “Feminist Paths: Culture and Debates Surrounding Feminisms and Suffrage in El Salvador” will be published by Don Bosco Press, and this will place Dr. Ticas amongst a handful of scholars who will have engaged with the socio-political dimension of women’s condition of the first half of the 20th century in El Salvador.’
“Sonia has presented her research in this area over the past several years at international conferences and has garnered the attention of experts in the field of both women’s history in Latin America and Central American studies. Finally, Sonia is one of the smartest women and humans I have met, and I deeply appreciate her dynamic work with students and colleagues.”
Samuel H. Graf Faculty Achievement Award: Andrew Baggett, associate professor of chemistry
Presented to a faculty member who has made an outstanding contribution to the life of the college beyond their regular duties that is worthy of special recognition. VanBeek writes:
“Andrew is absolutely an ‘above and beyond’ kind of person. His nomination form began, ‘It is my pleasure to nominate Dr. Andrew Baggett for the Samuel H. Graf faculty achievement award based on his meritorious contributions to classroom innovation, professional activities and service to the institution which have raised the profile of Linfield in the public eye, have made strong positive impacts on shared governance and communication, and have benefitted student recruitment, retention and morale.’ I concur!
“It has been a pleasure working with Andrew on the College of Arts and Sciences Leadership Council. He is conscientious, asks hard questions, and always tries to see issues from multiple viewpoints. I am so grateful that Andrew will be our CAS Leadership Council Chair next year.”
Cathy and Dave Haugeberg School of Nursing Faculty Award for Leadership in Innovation and Excellence Award: Heidi Johnston, associate dean and associate professor of nursing
Presented annually to a nursing faculty member who demonstrates exceptional qualities in service, teaching, and scholarship
Linfield University-Good Samaritan School of Nursing Dean Paul Smith hailed Johnston’s “exemplary leadership” in the development of both the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) and Master’s Entry into Professional Nursing (MEPN) programs, and work as inaugural director of both programs. He mentioned her service as chair of the Evaluation Committee during last year’s accreditation process, and primary authorship of an article on MEPN-style programs that was featured by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in April.
“I want to share a comment from a current student in our ABSN program— ‘Dr. Johnston has been a guiding light for my cohort this year. Through the trials and tribulations we have gone through this year, she has been a constant source of support,’” he said, then added a note of personal gratitude for their work together since she became an associate dean in February.
“Dr. Johnston has been such a joy to work with and I truly appreciate her constant positivity,” he said before turning to address Johnston directly. “On a personal note, I want to say thank you and that I appreciate you more than you know.”
