Congratulations to those who were recognized at the Fall Conference for their twenty-five years of dedicated service to UE.
Dr. Lora Becker is Professor of Psychology and Director of General Education. She received her PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience in 2002 and her Master of Arts from Binghamton University.
Her Bachelor of Science in Biology and Psychology was from Wright State University. Lora has taught over 20 different course topics along with numerous teaching-related talks, presentations, posters, and articles. She has worked extensively on research projects with over 60 UE students culminating in publications and presentations.
Lora is also very active in university service having served on various committees of the Faculty Senate, also serving as a Senator, vice chair twice, and chair of the Faculty Senate. She has taken part in numerous other committees along with being a faculty advisor to several student groups. She was founder and Director of the Major Discovery Program and is currently the Faculty Liaison. She also coordinated the modernization of the Neuroscience program.
In 2017, Lora received the Eykamp Prize for extraordinary contributions made by a UE faculty member. Other awards include Dean’s Advisor of the Year in 2004, Dean’s Teaching Award in 2007, Global Scholar in 2015, and Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience Distinguished Mentor in 2016.
Michael Tessier, Mike started his work at UE serving as Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life. He earned his BA in Social Sciences from the University of Northern Colorado and his Master of Science in College Student Personnel Administration from Western Illinois University. He was promoted to Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs In 2007.
Mike has had oversight of major departments in Student Affairs. Direct reports have included Student Publications, Multicultural Affairs, International Student Services, and Counseling and Disability Services. He has served as a liaison to the Parents’ Association and Parents’ Council, served as a primary support for UE Honor Code Cases, and an editor of the Student Handbook. In his early years, he initiated faculty/student interaction programs, as part of a grant from the Lilly Endowment.
Mike has served UE in numerous forms and functions. Here are just a few: Served on the MLK Planning committee since 1996; Spearheaded assessment for Student Affairs and compiling the 2014 Student Affairs Learning Outcomes Report for HLC; Chaired the Tobacco-Free Task Force and Implementation Committee; Worked together with Facilities in renovation projects for Hale, Moore, and Morton Brentano Halls. New construction initiatives included Jones Hall, Townhouses, New Hall, and Lincoln Commons; Served on the Coronavirus Heath Care Task Force and coordinated quarantine and isolation needs for our students during the pandemic; Served as Interim Dean of Students in 2021-22 upon the retirement of Dr. Dana Clayton; and assisted with coordination of the Center for Student Engagement in 2022-23 and received Advisor of the Year for his work with SGA.
Dr. Laura Dwyer, Associate Professor of Management, earned her PhD in 1999 from Purdue University in Organizational Behavior and her Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Indiana University in 1985. She became a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Illinois in 1987. Before attending graduate school, Dr. Dwyer worked for eight years at Amoco Corporation in Chicago, now British Petroleum, in various accounting positions.
She is a prominent scholar and teacher specializing in the areas of organizational behavior, human resources, decision making, and leadership. Her strong interests are in publishing peer-reviewed pedagogical journals in the areas of business education and higher education. She has presented her research findings at numerous regional and national conferences. Of particular interest is her research titled “Leadership self-efficacy and managers' motivation for leading change.”
Dr. Dwyer received the Berger Award for Scholarship in 2018 in recognition of her notable research and teaching. She also received the Schroeder School of Business Dean's Teaching Award in 2002, 2010, and 2021, the Schroeder School Dean's Research Award in 2004, the Schroeder School Dean’s Service Award in 2014 and 2020, and the Schroeder School Societal Impact Research Award in 2023.
Congratulations to the newest recipients of the Sadelle and Sydney Berger Awards for Service and Scholarly Activity presented by Mr. Charlie Berger at the Fall Conference.
Service Award - Margaret Atwater-Singer
It is with great pleasure the University of Evansville Berger Award Committee bestows the 2024 Berger Service Award to Margaret Atwater-Singer in recognition for her exemplary service to the University of Evansville. Meg has consistently demonstrated commitment to the service of UE since she arrived in 1997.
Meg’s contributions to the University Libraries are remarkable. Her clarity of vision, her ability to identify needs and areas of concerns, and to set goals and lead an effort to achieve them have been invaluable in myriad ways – but most especially in the leadership she demonstrated during the renovation of the Bower-Suhrheinrich Library in 2014 and 2015. Thanks to Meg’s ability to think strategically and to plan effectively, the libraries were able to provide students and faculty with a viable service during the months of disruption. She has led the creation of multiple learning tools for library student workers, restructured the Access Services Department, participated in in-class instruction sessions, one-on-one research consultations with students, and has been instrumental in library open-houses.
In addition to her prominent role at the University Libraries, Meg served as an advisor in the Pre-Physical Therapy Program. She also served as an elected representative of her colleagues, and in other instances -for example, on ad-hoc bodies- she was appointed by those who desired her participation because of her long record of conscientious service and her extensive institutional memory. Her impressive service record includes serving on various committees including the Athletic, Curriculum, Faculty Professional Affairs, Faculty Appeals, Admissions and Standards, Promotion and Tenure and other ad-hoc task forces. She also served as the Board of Trustees’ Faculty Observer and Faculty Representative of the BOT’s Institutional Advancement Committee. Each year, she has increased her responsibilities with the Senate’s Executive Committee, culminating with her service as a Chair starting in 2022 and she continued serving in that role when needed for an additional year in 2023-2024. She also served as the Assistant Grand Marshal working to coordinate the University Ceremonies including Commencements and Academic Convocations.
In addition, she assumed the task of organizing and planning the annual Faculty Scholarship Display and Reception. The list of Meg’s service to UE is long and her loyalty to the people who make up the fabric of the university is unparalleled. It is with profound respect; the Berger Award Committee confers the Berger Award for Service to Professor Meg Atwater-Singer.
Scholarship Award - Dr. Clark Kimberling
It is with great pleasure the University of Evansville Berger Award Committee confers the 2024 Berger Award for Scholarship to Dr. Clark Kimberling. Dr. Kimberling joined UE in 1970 as an Assistant Professor of Mathematics and became a Full Professor in 1982. His impressive breadth and depth of intellectual contributions include the following:
• 128 publications of mathematical research on geometry, number-theory, combinatorics, and probability
• 24 publications on the history of mathematics, science, music and social history
• 5 Mathematical Education Publications, including books, CD, and Java websites
• 27 Mathematical Education Publications in the Mathematics Teacher Journal
• 11 Mathematical Education publications in the Indiana Mathematics Teacher Journal
• 14 compositions for Church Choirs
• 22 compositions/arrangements for instrument One of his nominators described him “talented polymath scholar.”
His passion, talent, and love of discovery has enabled him to accomplish a vast volume of research. The University of Evansville proudly hosts a huge scholarly website known as Clark Kimberling’s Encyclopedia of Triangle Centers (ETC). A Wikipedia page, covering the ETC, was created in 2008 when ETC presented fewer than 4,000 entries. Now, 16 years later, ETC includes more than 60,000 entries. ETC has been cited in more than 500 scholarly articles in various books and mathematics journals. In addition, Dr. Kimberling has been avidly composing numerous scores for handbells, recorders, flute, and voice. He has expanded a website, hosted by UE since 2000, that is mainly dedicated to New Harmony Scientists, Educators, Writers, and Artists. Most recently in 2023, he published an 18-part website titled, Cornelius Tiebout Engravings. Tiebout was a leading American copperplate engraver who moved along with nationally known Philadelphians to New Harmony in 1826. Dr. Kimberling is a past Vice-President of the Fibonacci Association, which focuses on Fibonacci numbers and related mathematics, emphasizing new results, research proposals, challenging problems, and new proofs of old ideas.
He has presented number-theoretic research papers at international conferences of this organization in Canada, Greece, Hungary, Austria, Mexico, Luxemburg, France, Germany, Scotland, and the US. A search for “Kimberling” in the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences generates more than 20,000 hits, among them Kimberling paraphrases, Kimberling’s expulsion array and Kimberling’s sums. A Google search for “Kimberling’s theorem” produces several different theorems. The main one is a result in probability theory which found applications in financial investment algorithms. Asked what his favorite contribution to mathematics has been, he said it was the subjects of interspersions, dispersions, and fractal sequences, published in 1993 in the Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society, and of course, the definition of “triangle center,” in a 1994 publication, which led to creating the Encyclopedia of Triangle Centers. Therefore, based on his substantive and sustained scholarly activities spanning over half a century, the Berger Award Committee confers the Berger Award for Scholarship to Dr. Clark Kimberling. |
