Congratulations to these winners of our 2013 Outstanding Faculty Awards, selected by a committee of their peers:

Elske v. P. Smith Distinguished Lecturer
Robert M. Tombes
Biology

Distinguished Scholar Award
Jason R. W. Merrick
Statistical Sciences and Operations Research

Excellence in Scholarship Award (Math and Sciences)
J. Paul Brooks
Statistical Sciences and Operations Research

Excellence in Scholarship Award (Humanities & Social Sciences)
David A. Golumbia
English

Distinguished Teaching Award (Math and Sciences)
Craig E. Larson
Mathematics and Applied Mathematics

Distinguished Teaching Award (Humanities & Social Sciences)
Jay S. Albanese
Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs

Distinguished Service Award
Deirdre M. Condit
Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs

Distinguished Advising Award
Lisa M. Fleming
Liberal Studies in Early and Elementary Education

Distinguished Adjunct Award (Math and Sciences)
Russ Chandler
Forensic Science

Distinguished Adjunct Award (Humanities)
Maria De Panbehchi
School of World Studies

Distinguished Adjunct Award (Social Sciences)
Julianne Guillard
Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies

2012-13 RETIREES:

Jean A. Clark – Office of the Dean
Helen Ruth Aspaas - LSEE
Janet Hutchinson – Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies
Judy VanSlyke Turk – Mass Communications
John F. Schmeelk – Mathematics & Applied Mathematics (Qatar)

Leave a Comment

From typing top secret reports for the upper echelon of the Marine Corps, to typing scholarship reminders to students from her desk on the top floor of Blanton House, Tammy Hynson’s life has led her down a path of technological and interpersonal change.

Tammy has worked for the Dean’s office for 19 years, watching the university grow since 1994. She recalls working as a receptionist in the Hibbs building when she first began work at VCU, and remarked that it was a time when people could still smoke on the second floor of the building.

“I remember whenever we used to walk down the halls, it was always so smoky,” she said through laughter.

Tammy is the Fiscal Administrator and part of her job is working with interim director of development Bethanie Constant to administer scholarship funding from donors. Another part of her job is interfacing with students to ensure their scholarship documents are properly submitted and dispersed on time.

“Every now and then, if there’s been some miscommunication, and the student’s waiting for that money to show up for their education . . . they do take priority, and we try to have them ready by the beginning of July so that when class starts all their money is in their account.”

Tammy has worked with computers since 1981, when they were much less common than they are today. During that time, she was in the Marine Corps where she said she received a series of promotions and graduated number one in her class in the military.

Before exiting the Corps as a corporal in 1984, Tammy had become a typing assistant for her commandant at the headquarters of the Marine Corps, where she was expected to type top secret documents for high-ranking officials.

“You had to be able to type 100 words a minute and not look, and not make any mistakes. And you’ve got a colonel, or maybe a one-star general, looking over your shoulder, telling you to type this because they’re going to see the Commandant of the Marine Corps.”

Her commandant’s office received the first fax machine before all the other offices. It produced blurry reproductions of documents and required her to physically place the phone receiver on top of a modem to transmit information.

“It took maybe thirty minutes for one page, and hopefully you could read it.”

Despite more than 30 years of computer expertise, she says people are surprised to learn she does not own a cell phone and has does not want one in the future.

“When they first came out and they were really big, I got one, but I find them invasive and right now I find them to be a tool that people use to be anti-social.”

She jokingly refers to herself as “a dinosaur”; however, she says she loves the technology but would like to see phones used differently.

“I don’t ever want to be a person that is sitting with someone, or supposed to be spending time with someone and I’m talking on the phone with someone else and it’s not an emergency. I don’t want to be tied to a telephone . . . I think it’s rude.”

Tammy is one of three children born of what she calls a wonderful relationship between her parents. She loves her friends, animals, and her niece and nephew – to whom she is “Aunt Tammy.” She describes herself as a reader and loves to work in her garden. “One of these days I’m going to have a beautiful garden. Vegetables in the back and pretty flowers in the front.”

Tammy says she is proud to be a part of the VCU community which she described as “exciting” and “never dull.” Shafer Court has changed, “but the students, basically, have not. From all these years, the only thing that’s different is how they dress. They have so much energy, and anticipation and expectancies. It’s all great to see.”

Leave a Comment

Kathleen Murphy

Kathleen Murphy is the Administrative Coordinator in the Department of History. She came to VCU in the Fall of 2004 from Stanford University in California. She began working with Dr. Joseph Bendersky, Chair of the department. She worked with Dr. Bernard Moitt while he chaired the department for six years and now works with Dr. John Kneebone, who became Chair in July 2012.

Kathleen enjoys her time in the department because of the interesting faculty, staff and students she interacts with each day. She also enjoys many of the diverse activities that take place at VCU.

Kathleen has a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. When not at VCU, she enjoys spending time at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. She is involved in the Fan Women’s Club, producing their monthly newsletter. She also loves to spend time at home in her garden.

Leave a Comment

Dr. Robert Holsworth

Former Dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences and current Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors member Robert Holsworth, Ph.D. was recognized for his longtime public service at the Virginia Social Science Association (VSSA) Conference. Holsworth was presented the VSSA Public Service Award at VCU on Saturday, April 6, 2013.

During his acceptance speech, Holsworth stressed the need for faculty to engage in public service in conjunction with teaching and research. He says experience in the public sphere can only enrich their knowledge and expertise.

Holsworth joined the VCU faculty in 1978 as an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science. He later became chair of the political science and public administration departments. In 1994, he became director of the Center for Public Policy, and the director of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs in 2004. In 2006, he was appointed dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences. Last year Holsworth was appointed to the VCU Board of Visitors by Governor Robert McDonnell.

The 86th Annual VSSA Conference featured nearly 100 undergraduate, graduate student and faculty presentations from a variety of disciplines. VCU faculty and students contributed greatly to the conference, including Friday evening’s informative poster session at the ASPiRE Building.

“The annual VSSA conference is a great opportunity for students from all over the Commonwealth to present their research. We hope to inspire many young people to pursue their academic goals across disciplinary fields,” said C. Nana Derby, President of VSSA and Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Virginia State University.

During the conference’s plenary session, Dean Jim Coleman welcomed participants from the various colleges and universities. In addition to the Public Service Award, VSSA presented the Scholar Award for outstanding scholarship and research in a particular field. VCU Health System’s Sandra Barker, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Bill Balaban Chair in Human-Animal Interaction, was honored for her groundbreaking work on psychological trauma and the health benefits of companion animals.

The Virginia Social Science Association is the oldest association of academic disciplines in Virginia. The VSSA brings together academics from anthropology, business, criminal justice, economics, education, geography, history, international relations, political science, psychology and sociology. The VSSA’s core mission involves breaking down traditional educational boundaries in pursuit of social science research, dissemination of new ideas generated by that research, and the fostering of dialogue about teaching at all levels.

Written by Bruce A. Vlk

View a gallery of pictures of the conference on Facebook.

Leave a Comment

African American Studies
Saturday, May 11, 2013
3:00 p.m.
University Student Commons, Commonwealth Ballrooms
907 Floyd Avenue, 2nd Floor

Biology
Saturday, May 11, 2013
1:30 p.m.
Greater Richmond Convention Center
403 N. 3rd Street, Exhibit Hall C

Brandcenter
Saturday, May 11, 2013
3:00 p.m.
First Baptist Church
2709 Monument Avenue

Chemistry
Friday, May 10, 2013
6:00 pm
VCU Student Commons, Commonwealth Ballrooms
907 Floyd Avenue, 2nd Floor

English
Saturday, May 11, 2013
2:00 p.m.
Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church
1627 Monument Avenue

Forensic Science
Saturday, May 11, 2013
3:00 p.m.
Greater Richmond Convention Center
403 N. 3rd Street, B15abc

Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies
Saturday, May 11, 2013
3:00 p.m.
University Student Commons, Commonwealth Ballrooms
907 Floyd Avenue, 2nd Floor

L. D. Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs
Saturday, May 11, 2013
2:00 pm.
Greater Richmond Convention Center
403 N. 3rd Street, Exhibit Hall A

History
Saturday, May 11, 2013
1:30 p.m.
University Student Commons, Richmond Salons
907 Floyd Avenue, 2nd Floor

LSEE (Liberal Studies in Early Elementary Education)
Saturday, May 11, 2013
3:00 p.m.
University Student Commons, Commonwealth Ballrooms
907 Floyd Avenue, 1st Floor

School of Mass Communications
Saturday, May 11, 2013
3:00 p.m.
Greater Richmond Convention Center
403 N. 3rd Street, Exhibit Hall B

Mathematics and Applied Mathematics
Saturday, May 11, 2013
1:30 p.m.
University Student Commons, Commonwealth Ballrooms
907 Floyd Avenue, 2nd Floor

Military Science & Leadership
Friday, May 10, 2013
9:00 a.m.
Sacred Heart Cathedral
800 S. Cathedral Place
Richmond, VA 23220

Philosophy
Saturday, May 11, 2013
3:00 p.m.
University Student Commons, Commonwealth Ballrooms
907 Floyd Avenue, 2nd Floor

Physics
Saturday, May 11, 2013
1:30 p.m.
University Student Commons, Commonwealth Ballrooms
907 Floyd Avenue, 2nd Floor

Psychology
Saturday, May 11, 2013
7:30 p.m.
Siegel Center
1200 West Broad Street

Science
Saturday, May 11, 2013
1:30 p.m.
University Student Commons, Commonwealth Ballrooms
907 Floyd Avenue, 2nd Floor

Statistical Sciences and Operations Research
Saturday, May 11, 2013
1:30 p.m.
University Student Commons, Commonwealth Ballrooms
907 Floyd Avenue, 2nd Floor

School of World Studies
Saturday, May 11, 2013
2:00 p.m.
Greater Richmond Convention Center
403 N. 3rd Street, B21ab

Leave a Comment

Dorothy Fillmore

Dorothy Fillmore (M.A. English/English Education, ’84) is the current associate director of academic operations in the Department of Psychology.  Dorothy will soon be honored by ROSMY, a local organization that works with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth, with their highest honor: the Catalyst Award. Dorothy is being given the award for her distinguished work in supporting LGBTQ youth in the Richmond community, and more specifically, her work on VCU’s LGBT Subcommittee of Equity and Diversity (which is now called Equality VCU).  As we celebrate the recognition of her impact on our LGBTQ youth with great pride, it is worthwhile to take a look back at Dorothy’s 31 years of education and service to VCU. 

A proud East Tennessean by birth, Dorothy left Knoxville to pursue a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and religion at St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, N.C.  Her next stop was Union Theological Seminary in Richmond for a year before finally arriving at VCU to pursue her master of arts in English/English Education.  Upon graduating from VCU in 1984, Dorothy accepted an adjunct faculty position in the English department where she taught English Composition and Rhetoric I and II for two years.  It was in her next role as an academic advisor where Dorothy discovered her passion for the profession of academic advising.  She describes advising as “the perfect synthesis between her strengths in both teaching and listening.”  Luckily for VCU students, she has remained on that career path ever since and despite the many other hats she has worn since then, she still identifies first and foremost as an academic advisor.  On her experience with a variety of VCU departments, her partner of 23 years, Lisa Furr of VCU Allied Health Professions’ Virginia Center on Aging, has remarked quite comically that Dorothy has never had to apply for a new job because of her tendency to “reorganize” every 3 or 4 years, or so.

When asked to describe VCU’s evolution since her arrival in 1982, Dorothy made a list of “B’s” – beautification, better basketball, buildings, and bureaucracy.  She remembered with fondness the time her first VCU paycheck as an adjunct instructor arrived late and she was able to pick it up from her department the very next day!  Dorothy also notes how much less of a commuter school and school for nontraditional students VCU is now than it used to be.

In the areas of diversity and inclusion, Dorothy observes that although the university still has some work ahead it is a far more inclusive institution than it was in the early 1980’s.  Dorothy has worked tirelessly for the  advancement of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons as valued members of the institution and student body.  She is a member and former co-chair of Equality VCU and has served in that role since it was originally called the VCU LGBT Alumni Group in the mid 1990’s.  In addition, she is a past member of the College and Department of Psychology Diversity Committee and currently serves as secretary of the College’s Diversity Committee.  In order to recognize her outstanding contributions to the advancements of the LGBTQ community at VCU, Equality VCU recognized Dorothy in 2012 with the Burnside-Watstein Award.  The award is given annually to individuals who enrich the community at VCU and making a significant difference in the lives of LGBT faculty, staff and students.

In her acceptance speech for the Burnside-Watstein award, Dorothy prepared and read

10 Dorotheisms: a few things I have learned along the advocacy way.

1. It takes many hands to do this work, and we are blessed to have colleagues and allies all along the way. Thank you for the bridges you are building and the incredible support you provide.

2. Public displays of affection will change the world. I really believe this. So let’s get to it!

3. Are we making room at the table? Who is not there? Who is not here? Let’s make room.

4. I have many blind spots. While I may think that “Dorothy World” is the way things should be; there are other “worlds” which have merit.

5. The worst “isms” and “phobias” are the ones I swallowed from the culture and my upbringing. I sometimes need help in flushing these.

6. The past is not the future. Sometimes I get stuck here, but when I ask for help from my friends and colleagues at VCU, they are able to help me move forward.

7. We need everybody – we need the angry, creative, scholarly, dissenting, theatrical, in the closet, out of the closet, gay, straight, bi, transgender, queer. There is not one way to do this work. It is a rainbow flag, not a single colored flag.

8. It is good to be outrageous.

9. Do not wait for others to “get it” before you live your life. If I had waited for others “get it,” I would still be waiting.

10. Let’s continue to be tenacious and do the work. The work of the VCU LGBT Subcommittee is to add gender identity and its expression to VCU’s non-discrimination policy; to find a way to fund a domestic partner benefit plan; to work to expand services for LGBT students through a resource center; to educate ourselves and others about ways to combat bias and hate and about the ways oppression affects all of us.

In her spare time, Dorothy enjoys time with Lisa and their beloved dogs, Rascal and Willow.  She is a board member of the Unitarian Universalist Community Church in Glen Allen, she loves to knit and walk (“but not at the same time”) and is currently enjoying a class on LGBTQ writing at the Gay Community Center.

When asked what keeps her motivated in her career after 31 years, she says, “People.”  She cherishes all the connections she has made across the campus throughout the years and still derives great satisfaction from her daily work with students.  The department chair of Psychology, Wendy Kliewer, Ph.D., says, “Dorothy Fillmore is an absolute delight to work with and I consider her the glue that holds our department together in so many ways.  She is an integral reason our undergraduate and graduate programs function so well.”

Written by Jennifer L. Elswick
Director for Strategic Initiatives
Assistant to Chair
VCU Dept. of Psychology

Leave a Comment

Dr. Carrie Rentschler will speak on “Video Witness and the Re-Definition of the Bystander”  on Monday, April 22. Her talk examines how social movements are harnessing the capacity of cell phones to allow bystanders to easily record events and targeting the bystander as a site of social intervention.

Dr. Rentschler is Associate Professor and William Dawson Scholar of Feminist Media Studies in the Department of Art History and Communication Studies and Director of the Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at McGill University. She is author of the book Second Wounds: Victims’ Rights and the Media in the U.S. (Duke UP, 2011). Her work examines the relationship between media witnessing and citizenship, the gendered politics of fear and security, the media activism of social movements, and feminist anti-violence work.

Monday, April 22
1:00 pm
Student Commons, Forum Room

For further information contact Dr. Eric Garberson, Director, Media, Art, and Text at eggarberson@vcu.edu.

Sponsored by the interdisciplinary program in Media, Art, and Text.

Leave a Comment

The Department of Chemistry hosts its 36th Annual Mary Kapp Lecture in honor of Mary E. Kapp, the founding chair of the department on Thursday, April 25, 2013. Dr. Scott Miller, Irénée duPont Professor and Chair of Chemistry at Yale University will speak on “Natural Products, Synthetic Catalysts, Natural Products.”  The lecture will be held on the VCU Monroe Park Campus, Life Science Building, Room 155, located at 1000 West Cary Street.

Thursday, April 25, 2013
5:30 PM
Life Science Building, Room 155
1000 West Cary Street
Free and open to the public

For more information contact Rhea Miller at 827-0352 or rmiller3@vcu.edu.

Leave a Comment

Anthropology Spring 2013 Lecture series

Leave a Comment

Dr. W. Scott Street, IV, Associate Professor of Teaching in the Department of Statistical Sciences and Operations Research, was recently awarded the President’s Volunteer Service Award. The award was established in 2003 as a way to thank and honor volunteers who, by their demonstrated commitment and example, inspire others to engage in volunteer service.

One of Dr. Street’s volunteer activities is a canned food drive he conducts at exam time with his STAT 208 class to benefit the Central Virginia Food Bank. Dr. Street writes:

I was nominated (unbeknownst to me) by some of the people I work with in the Boy Scouts through Nawakwa Lodge (the local lodge of the Order of the Arrow, Scouting’s National Honor Society). Much of the work was with the Boy Scouts in numerous different activities over the years, but it seems to also have included work with my church (St. Matthias’ Episcopal Church in Midlothian), at my son’s school (St. Michael’s Episcopal School in Bon Air), and with the Central Virginia Food Bank. All of this combined to account for the over 4000 hours submitted for the lifetime President’s Call to Service Award.

More information about the award can be found here.

Leave a Comment