| By Nikita Murray
Two CMU faculty members have received distinguished faculty awards presented by the
Michigan Association of Governing Boards.
This year's honorees are Koblar Jackson, an associate
professor in the physics department, and Jane Matty, an associate professor of geology.
students James P. Cone of Calumet and Michelle Mazei of Otsego also will be
honored.
The four will be recognized with other recipients from
the state's 15 public colleges and universities on April 6 at the annual Michigan
Association of Governing Boards Convocation at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing.
Jackson joined the CMU faculty following post-doctoral
experiences at George Mason University in Virginia and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
in Washington, D. C.
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He has built a national reputation for
his creativity, leadership and research-based commitment to teaching according to MAGB
materials. Jackson said the state's benefit form MAGB awards because the honor helps
bring credibility to the teaching, research and academic activities of faculty members.
"It's always nice to be recognized for your work, but this award is special to me
because I view it as a stron statement by the MAGB that research ad scholarly work, as
well as quality teaching, are essential elements of our jobs as faculty members at
Michigan universities," he said.
Jackson has bee the key to the physics department's
redesigned focus on research that highlights computational physics, said Robert
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Kohrman, dean of the College of Science
and Technology.In 1997, Jackson spearheaded the
university's effort to create a centennial celebration call the "Electron Birthday
Project." The event, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and GTE, allowed
high school students nationwide to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the discovery of
the electron.
Matty has been at CMU since 1987. During her time
at the university, she has focused her research interests on sedimentary processes and
sediment geochemistry and has studied the chemical reactions of pollutants in the
sediments of the Great Lakes. She has published extensively and given presentations
on those same topics. |
For several
years she has written a regular column for Rocks and Minerals magazine titled
"Geo-Currents." Currently, she
coordinates a national Science Foundation grant that uses Internet technology to give CMU
shared access to instrumentation with other institutions.
Matty also is director of CMU's environmental studies
program and has helped increase its size to become one of the largest interdisciplinary
programs on campus.
"Dr. Matty's commitment to her students makes her
stand out in this field," said Eric Johnson, department chair for geology.
"She spends long hours helping students in the classroom and with research. She
makes every effort to help them succeed." |
