UW-Green Bay recognizes excellence in awarding of Founders Awards

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay has recognized its top faculty and staff members with 2016 Founders Awards for Excellence. The awards were presented before an audience of more than 400 in attendance at the Phoenix Room of the University Union. Made possible by private philanthropic support, the awards program has been an annual fixture at UW-Green Bay since 1975. Honorees are selected by a campuswide committee from nominations submitted by faculty, staff and others. The award winners, honored at the annual UW-Green Bay Fall Convocation Wednesday morning, August, 24 are:

Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching — Ryan Martin

Professor and Chair of the UW-Green Bay Psychology Program, Ryan Martin has a history of rave student reviews. His peers say he goes above and beyond to create a rich educational experience in his classroom. He supervises numerous individualized learning experiences ranging from research and teaching assistantships, to internships, independent studies and honors projects. He paves the way in reaching students, peers and media via social platforms, and he has grown as a national resource in anger management — one of his many research focuses.

Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship — John Mariano

Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance John Mariano provides hundreds of students with high-impact experiences. His moving, and thought-provoking live performances are acclaimed near and far. He has extensive New York and regional credits due to his expertise in blending the work of students and professional artists into seamless, high caliber productions. He has engaged in the vital activity of new play development, directing and performing in staged readings of plays by professional playwrights and mentoring student playwrights. His work has been commended by the Kennedy Center/ American College Theatre Festival, bringing National recognition to UW-Green Bay Performing Arts. The Kennedy Center National Selection Team held his production of Almost, Maine as a finalist for an invited performance at the Kennedy Center, the highest level of recognition in University Theatre.

University Award for Excellence in Community Outreach — Lora Warner

Associate Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs Lora Warner serves as a valuable liaison between UW-Green Bay and its community. She not only engages herself, but teaches our students to be engaged and active citizens in the Green Bay community.  She is involved with the United Way, House of Hope, Steps to Make a Difference and Sustainable Green Bay among other events and organizations. Her applied research is laudable — in particular her work with the Brown County Life Study has provided valuable insight into the community and shapes public dialogue on issues like environmental quality, education, health care and more. A peer describes Warner as one who strives to teach students “habits of the mind and habits of the heart.”

University Award for Excellence in Institutional Development — Steve Meyer

Secretary of Faculty and Staff Steve Meyer’s “institutional commitment, attitude and character” has provided leadership and knowledge to a range of committees or activities that serve the institution on either the local or UW system-wide level. He is one of the most active and visible faculty members on campus through his extensive involvement in student-focused activities, as well as his participation in faculty governance. One colleague put it simply; (Steve Meyer) “brings to life the notion of “Phoenix Family.” His contributions in student engagement include academic advisor for environmental science students, chairman of the NAS Scholarship Committee, University Leadership Awards Committee, Advising Task Force, Invent the Future Enrollment Working Group and Co-Director of the FOCUS program.

University Academic Support Award for Excellence — Joan Robb

Joan Robb is coordinator of collections management for the Cofrin Library. Her peers say she is vital to the success of the University and its most fundamental mission — the promotion of learning and scholarship. Through 35 years of dedication, she has championed efforts to preserve and enhance the Library collection; and is able to recommend creative solutions in order to provide resources widely and make them available to other UW campuses through collaborative negotiations.

University Staff Award for Excellence — Marie Helmke

Purchasing supervisor Marie Helmke is recognized for her outstanding work ethic, institutional understanding, dedication to UW-Green Bay and unwavering commitment to constituents. Helmke is an authority on the University’s regulations, policies and procedures. A steadfast advocate for UW-Green Bay, she is dedicated to ensuring that procurement needs across the University are met. She patiently trains new employees, demonstrates patience with the inevitable interruptions and has a reputation for providing complete and accurate answers to questions. As one colleague stated, “in any large organization individuals tasked with enforcement of complex regulations and policy can be viewed as obstacles to the process. Interaction with this individual leads to alternatives which can be used to achieve goals within all State and System regulations.”

University Award for Collaborative Achievement — T. Heather Herdman and Susan Gallagher Lepak

The team of faculty members T. Heather Herdman and Dean Susan Gallagher-Lepak is innovative, resourceful, and productive. They demonstrate their collaborative excellence through their ability to work across campus reporting lines and to engage in creative initiatives while advancing the University Mission. Using the pooled resources of UW-Green Bay, UW-System, WiSys Technology Foundation and NANDA International, this dynamic duo created an innovative technology for the global nursing workforce. Their app, NurScope^™, is a nursing diagnosis tool for mobile devices, designed to assist registered nurses extend their clinical reasoning and ultimately improve patient outcomes.

In the photo, from left to right, back row: Susan Gallagher-Lepak, Ryan Martin, John Mariano and Marie Helmke. Front row: Steve Meyer, Lora Warner and Joan Robb. Missing, T. Heather Herdman.

Photo by Dan Moore, University Photographer