Several faculty and staff members have been recognized for teaching excellence, scholarship and service to the campus community. The awards were presented at a special program and reception before this year’s commencement.

Renee Rogge, the Samuel F. Hulbert Chair of Biomedical Engineering, received the Dean’s Outstanding Teacher Award, while associate professor of mechanical engineering Patrick Cunningham earned the Board of Trustees’ Outstanding Scholar Award.

Meanwhile, Senior Manager of Maintenance Services Ralph Ross was named the President’s Outstanding Service Award recipient and executive assistant to the provost and vice president for academic affairs Donna Smith received the Make a Difference Award. Jayme Longo, administrative assistant for the Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment, received the Shining Star Award.

The Outstanding Teacher Award recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding ability as a teacher, through attention and dedication to student learning.

Dean of Faculty Russ Warley acknowledged that Rogge consistently earns commendable student evaluations in her courses. In fact, she recently received a perfect score from every student in a senior-year design course.

One of those students stated, “Dr. Rogge is one of my heroes. She was definitely tough on us, if we weren't keeping up with what we should, but she was also always encouraging and positive. It felt like she was truly there to help us learn and succeed as engineers, not just teach a class.”

Rogge has involved dozens of students in a variety of groundbreaking research projects in her specialty areas of biomaterials, biomechanics and body modeling. These projects have resulted in peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations and poster sessions at national conferences. She also has worked with students during the summer on extended research projects in the Orthopedic Biomedical Engineering Laboratory on campus.

A member of the faculty since 2004, Rogge has mentored senior-year biomedical engineering student teams that have earned national awards for workplace innovation and design. The National Science Foundation sponsored other student design projects to improve opportunities for people with disabilities. She has been co-chair for a biennial national conference about capstone engineering design principles. All of these academic efforts helped Rogge earn the trustees’ Outstanding Scholar Award in 2014.

Cunningham, this year’s Outstanding Scholar Award winner, has engaged in a career of scholarship and life-long learning. He focuses on the study of metacognition and self-regulated learning, and is interested in sharing and replicating evidence-based approaches to improving teaching and learning.

Board of Trustees chair Don Ings noted that Cunningham has an ambitious professional development plan: to transform teaching and learning at Rose-Hulman by preparing and empowering faculty to engage students in learning about learning, thereby helping students to take ownership of their education. Cunningham’s scholarly work is having a broad impact on engineering education, with his work resulting in modules that are being used by other U.S. colleges and universities.

Over his academic career, Cunningham has received $300,000 to support his work, has produced six peer-reviewed conference papers, made six conference presentations and had a peer-reviewed journal article published in the areas of metacognition and reflection. He has been a member of the Rose-Hulman faculty since 2006.

In presenting the President’s Outstanding Service Award, President Jim Conwell commended Ross for his cool demeanor, resourcefulness and professionalism which have had a positive impact on campus for more than seven years. He has worked with faculty and staff colleagues to help maintain and improve campus facilities – at any time of the day or night, or weather condition. Ross also has contributed to several activities, including the annual Bicycle Assembly Day for Terre Haute’s Chances and Services for Youth organization.

The Make a Difference Award honors a staff member for having a positive attitude and going beyond normal job expectations. Smith has filled several different roles in her 11 years as an employee. She has contributed to the success of Rose-Hulman Ventures, the Leadership Education & Development and Making Academic Change Happen programs, the Office of Innovation and, now, Office of the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. Provost Anne Houtman noted that Smith has always been eager to learn new skills and goes beyond her job description to ensure high performance standards.

Longo, this year’s Shining Star Award recipient, has been described as the “glue” of her office, always exhibiting a hard work ethic, empathy for others and a focus on achieving results. She joined the Rose-Hulman staff in 2015.

Receiving the Excellence in Service Award was a series of Lightning Talks, featuring 12-minute presentations by faculty and staff members, organized twice per academic quarter for the past three years. Topics have ranged from hummingbirds and film studies to the use of big data in marketing and how to take better photographs. The sessions have been organized by Ella Ingram, associate dean for professional development and associate professor of biology; Bill Kline, associate dean of innovation and professor of engineering management; and Brenda Mardis, administrative assistant to the associate dean of innovation.

Michael Moloney’s 50 years as a professor of physics and optical engineering topped the length of service awards. Bruce Allison retired at the end of the school year after 40 years teaching chemistry. Physics and optical engineering professors Rob Bunch and Michael McInerney completed their 35^th year as faculty members.

Honored for 30 years of service were Claude Anderson, professor of computer science and software engineering; Dale Bremmer, professor of economics; Jan Jerrell, coordinator in the Logan Library; Dale Long, executive editor of Echoes alumni magazine and director of media relations; and Mark Yoder, professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Recognized for 25 years of service were Kurt Bryan, associate head of mathematics and professor of mathematics; Sudipa Kirtley, professor of physics and optical engineering; Darren Peterson, service desk coordinator for the Office of Enterprise Information Technology; and Niusha Rostamkolai, professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Twenty-year service awards were presented to Kevin Lanke, assistant athletic director for sports information and communications; Nikki Morlan, custodian in facilities operations; Wendy Newport, residence life housekeeper; Lisa Norton, dean of admissions; Susan Reynolds, manager of facilities support; Atanas Serbezov, professor of chemical engineering; Richard Stamper, professor of mechanical engineering and engineering management; Maarij Syed, professor of physics and optical engineering; and Charles Walls, residence life custodian.