The School of Natural Sciences Dean’s Office and the School Executive Committee established nine faculty awards to recognize faculty success in many key areas. Three Physics professors received awards and were acknowledged during the SNS annual Community Dinner on October 17.
Exceptional Service
This award recognizes a faculty member whose unsung service has broadly benefited the School of Natural Sciences.
This year’s Exceptional Service Award recognizes Professor Brian Utter for his outstanding contributions to the undergraduate curriculum, general education and mentoring of teaching faculty. He champions lecturers, providing them with roadmaps that ensure that multiple sections of large enrollment classes retain degrees of similarity; without this guidance there would be large disparities in implementation which would compromise fairness and introduce bias.
He has also led efforts to redesign the PHYS 18 and PHYS 19 lab curricula to revamp the Physics curriculum for life science majors, to make it more engaging and applicable for these students.
Finally, as interim dean of Undergraduate Education, and as chair of General Education he continues to spearhead the general education initiative on campus, another major undertaking that is of benefit to the school and campus.
Contributions to Inclusive Excellence in STEM
This award recognizes a faculty member who not only understands that excellence is an emergent property of the combination of a multitude of diverse voices but also takes concrete steps to create a culture in which individuals feel included and empowered to participate.
This year’s Contributions to Inclusive Excellence in STEM award recognizes Professor David Strubbe for his commitment to graduate student recruiting, tabling for the graduate group at nearly every conference he attends. His interactions while tabling help to guide students to their best opportunity. By doing this, he fosters relationships and builds networks for individuals from diverse backgrounds to as they seek out their next opportunity.
He has played an active role in Cal-Bridge, Women in Physics, the Society for the Advancement of Chicano/Hispanic and Native American Scientists (SACNAS), and other organizations that work to support and elevate underrepresented groups in STEM. In addition to these outward-facing efforts, he also works diligently behind the scenes to ensure that institutional policies and procedures within the Physics Graduate Group are accurate, transparent, and accessible.
He has also spearheaded the Science by Diversity Scientists seminar series, which brought together diverse voices in physics and astronomy, securing funding and ensuring a platform for underrepresented scholars. His leadership in these initiatives has expanded opportunities for students while fostering a more inclusive academic community.
His unwavering dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion has created tangible, lasting change, and his work continues to inspire those around him.
Undergraduate Research Mentoring
This award recognizes a faculty member who makes exceptional contributions to training undergraduate researchers.
Professor Sarah Loebman was honored with the Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award for her significant contributions to undergraduate research mentoring while also removing barriers to inclusion for students in STEM. She is a highly sought after, engaged and successful undergraduate research mentor who currently advises six undergraduates on their research (in addition to six graduate students) including five of the 12 students enrolled in Phys 196 this semester, all of whom are working on different projects or different aspects of a project.
She is very supportive and conscientious in her mentoring of undergraduates in general and it is common to see students gathering and deliberating in her office. A testament to her mentorship accomplishments is that seven out of 10 of the undergrads she has worked with for their senior thesis have gone on to graduate school and three of the last five outstanding graduating senior undergraduates from the department have been from her group.
