Release date: May 16, 2005
Contact: Beverly Cox Clark, Assistant Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-712-8780 or beverly.clark@emory.edu

Emory University Faculty Members Receive Awards for Outstanding Teaching, Research, Leadership

Ten Emory University faculty members were honored with teaching, research and mentoring awards presented at the university's commencement ceremony May 16.

James W. Fowler, executive director of Emory's Center for Ethics and the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Theology and Human Development, received the University Scholar/Teacher Award. The recipient is chosen by Emory faculty on behalf of the United Methodist Church Board of Higher Education and Ministry. Fowler is a resident of Decatur (30033).

Fowler earned his doctorate at Harvard University in religion and society, and joined the faculty of Emory's Candler School of Theology in 1977. In more than 10 edited collections and 60 scholarly articles, his pioneering scholarship on faith development has earned him international distinction. His book "Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Development and the Quest for Meaning" is in its 38th printing and has been translated into German, Korean and Portuguese. In recognition of his seminal work bridging the fields of religion, personality and human development, he received the American Psychiatric Association's Oskar Pfister Award as well as the William James Award from the American Psychological Association in 1994. In 1999 the University of Edinburgh awarded him an honorary doctor of divinity degree.

In addition to his scholarship, Fowler has served as the first full-time director of the Center for Ethics at Emory since 1994. In this position, he has shepherded Emory in its vision for ethical engagement in teaching, research and service. Through his collaborations with faculty and administrators across the university and his courses for undergraduate and graduate students, he has fostered innovative partnerships and critical discussions around pressing ethical issues.

Richard Levinson, professor and executive associate dean of the Rollins School of Public Health, received the Thomas Jefferson Award, which is presented to a faculty member or administrative officer in recognition of significant service to the university through personal activities, influence and leadership. Levinson is a resident of Decatur (30033).

For more than 30 years Levinson has demonstrated steadfast leadership, pioneering research and creative teaching on behalf of the Emory community. After completing a doctorate at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, he came to Emory as an assistant professor in 1972. As an associate professor of community health in the Emory School of Medicine and as acting chief of the behavioral epidemiology and evaluation branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Levinson created important connections between Emory and the CDC.

Levinson has led many of Emory's interdisciplinary initiatives as the first board chair for the Center for Ethics, as a leader in establishing the Rollins School of Public Health, guiding it to national distinction, and as a collaborator in building four joint-degree programs across the schools of business, medicine, nursing, public health and law. Named the Division of Public Health's Professor of the Year in 1988 and awarded the Emory University Scholar/Teacher Award in 1993, he is described by students as a devoted, prolific, witty and legendary teacher. Colleagues consider him a "true academic, a gifted administrator, an unsung hero and a friend."

Alice Benston, associate professor of theater studies, received the George P. Cuttino Award for Excellence in Mentoring, established in 1997 by trustee John T. Glover. Benston is a resident of Atlanta (30305).

Seven Emory professors received the Emory Williams Award for Distinguished Teaching. The university's most prestigious awards for teaching were established in 1972 by alumnus Emory Williams. The three awards in the arts and sciences are selected by a committee of Emory College faculty. Goizueta Business School, Oxford College and Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing each present an award for excellence in undergraduate teaching, and one other award rotates among the professional schools. The 2005 recipients of the Emory Williams Award are:

• Frank Lechner, associate professor of sociology. Lechner is a resident of Atlanta (30345).

• Laurie Patton, professor of religion. Patton is a resident of Atlanta (30307).

• Barry Yedvobnick, associate professor of biology. Yedvobnick is a resident of Stone Mountain (30087).

• Steven Baker, associate professor of biology, Oxford College. Baker is a resident of Covington (30014).

• Eve Rosenzweig, assistant professor of decision and information science, Goizueta Business School. Rosenzweig is a resident of Atlanta (30306).

• Barbara Kaplan, instructor and coordinator of the Evans Center for Caring Skills, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. Kaplan is a resident of Roswell (30076).

• Joseph "Jack" Kinkade Jr., professor of biochemistry, School of Medicine. Kinkade is a resident of Decatur (30033).

Emory University is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. For more than a decade Emory has been named one of the country's top 25 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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