Before celebrating this year’s Commencement, Rose-Hulman took time to recognize several faculty and staff members for their teaching skills, research and scholarly pursuits in their academic areas, and service to the campus community. Nearly 40 employees were honored for achieving significant landmarks in their years of service to colleagues, students and alumni.

Niles Noblitt, chair of the institute’s Board of Trustees, noted that “one of Rose-Hulman’s greatest strengths is that its faculty and staff work together in support of our educational mission.”

Faculty Awards

William Butske, associate professor of mathematics, received the Dean’s Outstanding Teacher Award while Thomas Adams, professor of mechanical engineering, earned the Board of Trustees’ Outstanding Scholar Award.

Butske is the latest mathematics professor to receive the Dean’s Outstanding Teacher Award, which recognizes faculty for being exceptional educators while providing attention and dedication to students, in and out of the classroom. He has been a member of the Rose-Hulman faculty for 14 years, teaching calculus and differential equations to first-year students and sophomores.

Dean of Faculty Russ Warley states that Butske consistently earns high student evaluations for those courses, with numerous perfect ratings.

One student remarked that “(Butske) brings an energy to class every day that makes learning the material fun and therefore we retain it better. If I did badly on a test, I knew it was because I didn't study enough, not because he did not prepare us or the test was unfair.”

Adams has received the Outstanding Scholar Award after earning the Outstanding Teacher Award in 2005. His self-proclaimed “Scholarship of Generalization” applies general principles to solve challenging problems. He also has co-authored a textbook that’s making knowledge of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) accessible to undergraduate students throughout the world.

The 1990 Rose-Hulman graduate has published research papers in the areas of flow in micro-channels, MEMS and compressible flow, and a recent paper compiled with seven high school students from the institute’s 2018 Operation Catapult summer expediential learning program earned the best paper award at a national conference. Adams has published 18 conference papers, one book and one book chapter, along with having one patent – many of these collaborations being with faculty colleagues and undergraduate students.

“Dr. Adams is an outstanding example of what it means to engage in a career of scholarship and lifelong learning,” says Noblitt.

Staff Awards

Staff honorees featured Mark Crosby, senior technologist for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, as the President’s Outstanding Service Award recipient; Hyung-Jung Chang, graphic designer in the Office of Communications and Marketing, as the Make A Difference Award winner; and Kelli Lloyd, campus visit coordinator for the Office of Enrollment Management, as the Shining Star Award winner.

The Excellence in Service Award was presented to five staff members for their assistance in implementing aspects of the enrollment management’s customer relationship management software: Paula Clingerman, Lori Essig, Nancy Helsper, Lisa Norton and Patty Trifone.

Crosby has contributed to the success of electrical and computer engineering faculty and students during his 15 years as a senior technologist. He annually provides valuable feedback to juniors that create, many for the first time, printed circuit boards for their design projects.

President Robert A. Coons says “(Crosby) will help them bring their design to life, even if he knows it won’t work, and will patiently work with them afterward on identifying and correcting the issues. Mark has truly made a tremendously positive impact in the lives of many Rose-Hulman students and employees.”

Chang uses her South Korean heritage to make a difference for international students adapting to living far from their homeland while attending Rose-Hulman. She meets with students regularly in her office, helps introduce students to the Terre Haute community and delivers floral bouquets at Commencement to graduating students whose parents couldn’t attend the ceremony. Then, Coons points out that the graphic designer recently spent four hours addressing concerns by the parents of a South Korean-native who was reviewing Rose-Hulman as a possible college destination. The telephone conversation started at 1 a.m. on a Saturday. The student and parents are planning to meet Chang in person when they arrive on campus this fall.

Meanwhile, Lloyd is the smiling face that welcomes prospective students and families to attend a variety of campus admissions program. She works with such areas as academic departments, athletics, performing arts and Army/Air Force ROTC to provide prospective students all of the information necessary to make informed decisions in the college-selection process. The Shining Star Award honors relatively new employees for their dedication and service.

The Excellence in Service Award recognized the group that spent several hours helping implement the best-in-class enrollment management software, SLATE, that’s providing new technical tools to engage with prospective students. Clingerman, Essig, Helsper, Norton and Trifone spent the past year building the data structure to ensure that all admission applications were reviewed electronically for the first time during the 2018-2019 recruitment cycle. Other aspects of the SLATE system will assist the institute’s recruitment efforts in the future.

Other Recognition

Faculty being highlighted after earning tenure status beginning in the 2018-19 academic year were John Aidoo, Roland E. Hutchins endowed chair of civil engineering; Matthew Boutell, professor of computer science and software engineering; Maki Hirotani, professor of Japanese; Tina Hudson, professor of electrical and computer engineering; Ella Ingram, associate dean for professional development and professor of biology; and Samuel Martland, professor of history and Latin American studies.

Recognized for 35 years of service to Rose-Hulman were professor Richard Ditteon, and staff members Annette Brainard, Sue Dayhuff and Pamela Hamilton. Completing 30 years of service this year were President Robert Coons; faculty members Caroline Carvill, Phillip Cornwell and Charles Joenathan; and staff members Jeffrey Jenkins and Matthew Pink.

Faculty honored for 25 years of service were Christine Buckley, David Mutchler and Wayne Padgett, along with staff member Jon Prevo.

Twenty-year service awards were presented to faculty members Thomas Adams, Jameel Ahmed, Galen Duree, David Finn, Tina Hudson, Elaine Kirkpatrick, Michael Kukral, Jeffrey Leader, James Mayhew, J.P. Mellor, Andreas Michel, JianJian Song, Anneliese Watt, Edward Wheeler and Michael Wollowski. Staff members achieving the service milestone were Sean Bendel, Paul Clingerman, Robert Davignon, Robin McClintock, Roger Sladek, Trudy Sladek, Gary Waite and John Walton.