Regents' 2001 Faculty Awards Winners

Winners of the 2001 Regents' Faculty Awards for Excellence

In April, the University System of Maryland Board of Regents recognized 12 faculty members from institutions across the USM for their outstanding contributions in one of six areas: mentoring, public service, teaching, research, scholarship, and creative activity. Except where indicated, the award winners are featured below with Nathan A. Chapman, Chairman of the USM Board of Regents. More information about the Regents' Faculty Awards is available in a press release on the event. 

Regents' Faculty Awards for Excellence in Mentoring

Robert J. Bloch, professor in the Department of Physiology at the School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore. Since 1991, Bloch has directed a training program supporting graduate students in anatomy and neuroscience, biochemistry, pharmacology, physiology, and microbiology. Through this training program, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), students are provided with stipends and, most importantly, valuable time with their professor. Bloch has mentored pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees as well as junior faculty members throughout his career. Just recently, he began an effort to obtain NIH funding for the recruitment and retention of minority graduate students at UMB.

Robert H. Deluty, professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Director of clinical training, Deluty has led the development of the clinical psychology track within UMBC' s Human Services Psychology doctoral program. He has provided ample research opportunities for undergraduates, and mentored graduate students. His students have gone on to win competitive internships and develop rewarding clinical careers.

Harold E. Griswold, professor of music at Towson University. Griswold has been a member of Towson's music faculty for 31 years. During that time, he has taught bassoon, early music ensemble, woodwind class, and music literature, and he has coordinated the Master of Music graduate program in performance and composition. He has also shaped the lives and careers of young musicians, inspiring many to become teachers of music performance at all levels. A number of his students have established careers both here and overseas in the United in orchestras, opera companies, military bands, and jazz ensembles.

Regents' Faculty Awards for Public Service

H. Harry Basehart, professor and chair in the Department of Political Science at Salisbury University. Basehart has merged his scholarly expertise with real-world issues in several ways, most recently by creating Salisbury' s Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement, along with fellow professor Francis Kane. For 27 years, he has managed a program that produces more interns serving in the General Assembly than does any other college or university in Maryland. In recognition of his commitment to public service, Gov. Glendening appointed Basehart to the State Special Committee on Voting Systems and Election Procedures.

Jessica Elfenbein, assistant professor in the Division of Legal, Ethical, and Historical Studies at the University of Baltimore. Elfenbein has organized major conferences on the history of Baltimore, attended by scholars and the general public alike. She has nurtured Maryland History Day, visiting school systems to encourage participation, in time transforming it into a truly statewide event. Her advocacy led to the creation of the Center for Baltimore Studies, bringing together research and service-learning projects that are currently spread across the university.

Edward D. Houde, professor in the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Houde has devoted much of his career to advocating for the sound management of fishery resources, and is recognized for his contributions not only in Maryland, but throughout the region and the nation. A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Houde has played a major role in changing the paradigm of fishery management from one that maximizes harvest to the point of species depletion to one that stresses conservation. Because of his research, the governors of Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania included a commitment to multi-species management in their historic Chesapeake 2000 Agreement.

Regents' Faculty Awards for Excellence in Teaching

Matthew Bobrowsky, adjunct professor at the University of Maryland University College and astrophysicist with the Challenger Center for Space Science Education. Bobrowsky, who has taught at UMUC since 1983, is regarded by his students as an inspiring teacher. He has also devoted his time and talent to colleagues, largely by helping to train them in the use of Web-based teaching methods. Recently he was part of a team that developed a basic astronomy course for online delivery that has enrolled more than 200 students from the U.S. and five other countries. He speaks frequently in local schools and regularly presents at the annual National Science Teachers Association Conference.

Leslie P. Gartner, associate professor of anatomy in the Department of Oral and Craniofacial Biological Sciences at the University of Maryland, Baltimore Dental School. Gartner's enthusiasm for teaching is best summed up by his own words: "I was brimming with information that I wanted to impart to my prospective students, hoping that I could arouse their curiosity. Thirty years later, nothing has changed. I still look forward to each new class of students, to each new lecture, and to each laboratory session as if this were that very first day that I began to teach." Aside from being regarded as an inspiring teacher, Gartner is the author of eight textbooks and a course on CD-ROM. (Dr. Gartner was unable to attend the awards ceremony. Accepting the award on her behalf is Joann Boughman, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.)

Robin G. Sawyer, associate professor of health education at the University of Maryland, College Park. Sawyer has been on the faculty since 1990, after spending five years at the University Health Center. His courses have included human sexuality, methods and materials in health education, and health of children and youth. He has received numerous accolades for his teaching and is consistently praised cited by his students. He has also written two textbooks and screenplays that have advanced the field of health education, and co-produced four films focusing on human sexuality. His work has had an impact on campuses around the country.

Regents' Faculty Awards for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Suzanne Ostrand-Rosenberg, professor of biological sciences at UMBC. Holder of the university's endowed Meyerhoff Chair in Biochemistry for 2000 through 2005, Ostrand-Rosenberg has made major contributions to cancer research via her work on the molecular and cellular basis of immunity to tumors. Her experiments in the late 1980s led to a renaissance in tumor immunology, drawing many new investigators to the field. Ostrand-Rosenberg has received consistent grant support from the National Institutes of Health and private foundations, and routinely includes students at all levels in her research program.

Sally Promey, professor of art history at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP). Promey is a distinguished scholar whose 1999 book on John Singer Sargent, Painting Religion in Public, is considered the definitive work on the artist to date. The book is one of the few texts to delve into the connections between religion and art in the United States. By virtue of her scholarship, Promey has defined a new concentration within American history: the intersections between religion and the visual arts. (Dr. Promey was unable to attend the awards ceremony. Accepting the award on her behalf is June E. Hargrove, professor and chair of Art History and Archaeology at UMCP.)

Mortimer N. Sellers, professor of law at the University of Baltimore. Sellers is regarded as one of the world's leading scholars of contemporary constitutional law, and is frequently invited by governments around the world to assist in drafting their constitutions and developing legal institutions. He has published numerous articles and books, and is editor of International Legal Theory and associate editor of the American Journal of Comparative Law. Over the last three years, Sellers has published a book, four articles, an encyclopedia entry, eight academic essays, and eight book reviews. He has also presented his research at nearly 30 academic conferences and seminars. His numerous honors include Professor of the Year from the Women's Bar Association in 1999.