Annual Faculty Awards
Each year, Saint Mary’s College of California recognizes tenure-track faculty members for their excellence in several key areas, including teaching excellence, early career achievement, service, advising excellence, inclusive excellence, justice & liberation, and outstanding scholarship.
Each award recipient receives a monetary award, certificate, and their name will be displayed on a plaque located in the Academic Affairs Library.
In addition, the Saint Mary's College annual Professor of the Year Award honors an outstanding, full-time member of the Saint Mary’s College faculty. Tenured faculty currently on reduced services are also eligible.
The Professor of the Year award is designed to recognize distinguished achievement in teaching and/or scholarship by a faculty member of the College. The recipient receives an honorarium and delivers a formal presentation on a subject of his/her choosing before the faculty and invited guests at a reception in the spring.
2023 Faculty Award Winners:
The 2023 Award Recipients
- Dr. Taj (Toni) Johns, KSOE – Dr. John Dennis Teaching Excellence Award
- Dr. Bedford Palmer II, Counseling Department – Inclusive Excellence, Justice and Liberation Award
- Dr. Mary Raygoza, Teacher Education – Early Career Award
- Dr. Aaron Lee, Physics & Astronomy – Early Career Award
- Dr. Robin Dunn, Kinesiology – Service Award
- Dr. Scott Schönfeldt-Aultman, Communication – Teaching Excellence Award
- Dr. Manisha Anantharaman, Justice, Community & Leadership – Outstanding Scholar Award
- Dr. Ellen Rigsby, Communication – Advising Excellence Award
Provost Research Grant Recipients 2023:
- Dr. Jackson Battista | A New Economic History of Deindustrialization
- Dr. Amy Chu | Tuning the reactivity of metal carbon dioxide complexes for carbon dioxide recycling to carbon monoxide
- Dr. Loan Thi Dao | At 50: Confluences & Changes in Little Saigon since 1975
- Dr. Stephanie D’Costa | Anti-Colonial School Psychology Learning Collaborative
- Dr. Robin J. Dunn | Get Sportable: Using Sport to Integrate Students at Risk of Social Exclusion in School
- Professor Rogelio Lopez | Folklorico: an exploration of the current dance form in the U.S. and Mexico, emphasizing technique and queer culture
- Dr. Myrna Santiago | ‘The Day the World Ended:’ An Environmental History of the 1931 and 1972 Managua Earthquakes
- Dr. Mireille “Mimi” Ukeye and Dr. Kristen Freeman | A School Based Intervention Program for Students Experiencing Stress and Anxiety after School Closure
- Professor Jia Wu | A short Dance Film: 美國母女 MEI GUO MU NV (Mothers and Daughters)
Innovative Pedagogy Grant Recipient:
Dr. Costanza Dopfel | AH374 – Art Conservation and Restoration
2021–22 Sabbatical Recipients
- Dr. Rebecca Anguiano
- Dr. Zeynep Atalay
- Dr. Michael Barram
- Dr. Robert Bulman
- Dr. Vidya Chandrasekaran
- Dr. Andrew Conner
- Dr. Emily Hause Brooks
- Dr. Hilda Ma
- Dr. Claude-Rheal Malary
- Dr. Marie Pagliarini
- Dr. Bedford Palmer II
- Dr. Michael Viola
Previous winners of the Saint Mary’s College Professor of the Year Award:
- Brenda Hillman (2022-23)
- Ted Tsukahara (2021-22)
- Rosemary Graham (2020-21)
- Ken Brown (2019-20)
- Joan Peterson (2018-19)
- Denise Witzig (2017-18)
- Steven Cortwright (2016-17)
- Carla Bossard (2015-16)
- David Bowen (2014-15)
- Myrna Santiago (2013-14)
- Rebecca Proehl (2012-13)
- Barry Eckhouse (2011-12)
- Stephen Sloane (2010-11)
- Sandra Grayson (2009-10)
- Roy Wensley (2008-09)
- Ronald Olowin (2007-08)
- Lawrence Cory (2006-07)
- Nancy Struthers (2005-06)
- Brother John O’Neill (2004-05)
- Steve Woolpert (2003-04)
Scenes from the Scholars Reception
Dozens of Saint Mary's faculty, staff, and supporters attended the 2023 Scholars Reception to honor and pay tribute to their colleagues.
