ADRIAN — Three faculty members at Adrian College were presented with teaching awards at the college’s opening convocation on Sept. 4.
The Ross Newsom Award for Outstanding Teaching was presented to Kristin Clark, associate professor of music.
Clark earned her doctorate in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan, where she also completed master’s degrees in choral conducting and voice performance, and a bachelor’s degree in music education. She has appeared as a soloist throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Italy, Ukraine, Russia, and Estonia.
The Exemplary Teaching Excellence Award was presented to Thomas Muntean, professor of geology.
During his time at Adrian College, Muntean helped redevelop and modernize the geology and environmental science curriculum, has developed several new in-demand courses not previously offered at the college, and has served in numerous leadership roles. He is in his fourth year as director of the college’s Ribbons of Excellence Program.
Adrian College’s Creative Activity, Research and Scholarship Award was created to honor and recognize significant contributions to a faculty member’s field of study. This year’s recipient was Nathan Goetting, professor of sociology and criminal justice.
Goetting is the director of Adrian College’s George W. Romney Institute for Law and Public Policy and a full professor in sociology and criminal justice. His teaching and writing focus on constitutional law and civil liberties. He has taught at three law schools, served as faculty advisor to The University of Toledo Law Review and has published several writings, with some being sited in law reviews. He is also a contributing writer for Discourse Magazine. Goetting was an integral part in bringing a debate series to Adrian College.
Also during the Sept. 4 convocation, new faculty were introduced and newly promoted and tenured faculty were recognized.
New faculty members who were introduced included Danielle Gilbert (teacher education), Krista Schindel (teacher education), Alex Martin (chemistry and biochemistry), Ian Steinke (chemistry and biochemistry), Christopher Rodgers (accountancy, business and economics), Jenna Cleary (accountancy, business and economics), Patty Higdon-Dudley (art and design), and Malak Bazzi (biology).
Brittney Cole (chemistry and biochemistry) was promoted to assistant professor while Jody DiMarco (social work) was promoted to associate professor.
Jennifer Towns (social work) and Cheryl Nutter (accountancy, business and economics) were promoted to associate professors with tenure.
Yasser Alginahi (computer science) was promoted to the rank of full professor.
Faculty promoted to the rank of full professor with tenure were Christie Boxer (sociology and criminal justice), Dorin Dumitrascu (mathematics), and Cedrick Heraux (sociology and criminal justice).
The speaker at the convocation was Michael Bell, an Adrian College alumnus who is a national authority on credit union and bank transactions and a member of the college’s board of trustees.
