2012 faculty and staff awards
At an April 24, 2012, celebration in the Mechanical Engineering Building, the College of Engineering will recognize outstanding faculty and staff whose service and contributions extend from the college to the world. Each recipient of the College of Engineering annual awards receives privately funded stipends and permanent recognition on a plaque in Engineering Hall. Award recipients are chosen by peers. Faculty and staff awards are announced every year during Spring Appreciation Day.
The Benjamin Smith Reynolds Award for Excellence in Teaching
Dante Fratta
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Geological Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering Associate Professor Dante Fratta’s colleagues use such adjectives as enthusiastic, engaging, exceptional and innovative to describe his approach to teaching. His excellence as an instructor and mentor reverberate through every interaction with every student. BIO »
The Byron Bird Award for Excellence in a Research Publication
Paul F. Nealey
Chemical and Biological Engineering
Over the past decade, Milton J. and A. Maude Shoemaker Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering Paul Nealey has made seminal advances in nanolithography that have spawned a revolution in both the semiconductor device and hard disk drive manufacturing industries.
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The Harvey Spangler Award for Technology-enhanced Instruction
Dan Negrut
Mechanical Engineering
In 2008, anticipating a greater need for access to high-performance computing and an increasing demand for large-scale modeling and simulation, Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor Dan Negrut created a course specifically to give students hands-on experience with supercomputing clusters. BIO »
The Classified Staff Distinguished Achievement Award
Lynn J. Neis
Materials Science and Engineering
In her many years of service to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Neis has expanded her skills and contributions, not only as a result of an explosion in office technology, but in response to the evolving needs of the department’s faculty, staff and students.
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The Ragnar E. Onstad Service to Society Award
Philip R. O'Leary
Engineering Professional Development
“Many people spend their lives trying to make the world a better place,” says Middleton teacher Michael Jones. “Phil O’Leary can honestly say he achieved this by actively helping our children, our university and our state reach new heights through his tireless efforts with Camp Badger.” BIO »
The Bollinger Academic Staff Distinguished Achievement Award
Kumar Sridharan
Engineering Physics
As a testament to the global impact of Engineering Physics Distinguished Research Professor Kumar Sridharan’s research, letters in support of him came not only from collaborators in Madison, but also from from the nation and around the world. BIO »
The James G. Woodburn Award for Excellence in Teaching
Robert J. Witt
Engineering Physics
Witt challenges his students to prepare for — and deal with — ambiguity and incomplete information. He lays the groundwork to help his students excel not only as engineers, but as lifelong learners. BIO »