The OU Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oklahoma held its annual Awards Lunch on Thursday, April 25th, at the Noun Hotel. The event, now named the Impact Awards Luncheon (formerly Kaleidoscope), celebrates the significant contributions of outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni to the university community.
Among the distinguished guests was OU President Joseph Harroz, Jr., who commended the awardees for their achievements, which have propelled the university to greater heights. Awards were announced by Rhonda Dean Kyncl, Associate Dean for Students.
The Carl Albert Award is the most prestigious honor given to a student in our college. First presented in 1966, the award is based on academic performance, moral force of character and promise of future service to the state and nation.
Julie is graduating with her master of arts in managerial economics with a focus in big data and a bachelor of arts in letters with a double major in economics. She is a program developer, executive vice president and mentor for the miracle mindset college access program, eliminating the achievement gap for first-generation and low income high school students. Julie is also a National Merit Scholar, a Withrow Leadership Scholar and a Global Engagement Fellow. After studying abroad with the Withrow Scholars, Julie returned to France and spent a full semester studying there to further her education.
Gizelda will graduate with her bachelor of arts in community health and bachelor of science in healthcare administration and communications. She is the president and founder of The Global Public Health Group, where she manages health consulting projects and organizes public health conferences. She is also a Withrow Leadership Scholar.
Carson will graduate with a bachelor of business administration in economics and management and a bachelor of arts in political science. He is a national merit scholar and is very active on campus. He is a part of the Society of Fellows for the Institute for the American Constitutional Heritage, the Price Ambassador Program, the JC Penney Leadership Program, and OU Dance Marathon.
Noelle will graduate with a bachelor of arts in sociology, pre-med. She is active in OU Med Life Club and volunteers regularly for the Lighthouse Non-profit Medical Clinic in Oklahoma City where she cares for both pediatric and adult patients.
Flora will be graduating with her bachelor of arts in communication, pre-law. She is a script writer for Mad Science, where she writes summaries of scientific phenomena and creates activities to form the basis for video scripts for K-12 curriculum. In 2023 she was interviewed by Time Magazine regarding reproductive health for people with disabilities.
Lucy is a biochemistry student and a very active part of our university community. She is a mentor for the Dodge Family Scholars and the honors program, board member for the Minority Health Services Conference, the OU Food Pantry research ambassador, Withrow Leadership Scholar and a committee member for OU Asian Royalty. She currently works as a resident advisor for Headington Hall, an Honors College Ambassador and a Peer Learning Assistant. She is working with Dr. Singh as an undergraduate research assistant.
Natalie will graduate with her bachelor of science in microbiology and minor in medical humanities and her bachelor of musical arts in cello performance and a minor in Spanish. She is currently working as a peer health educator for OU Health Services and a triage volunteer for Manos Juntas Community Health Clinic in OKC. She is the president of the American Mock World Health Organization OU chapter.
Abbygail is a double major in both Chemistry/Biochemistry and Biology. She has had significant undergraduate research experience while she’s been a student in our FYRE program and at the Oklahoma Biological Survey. She has also given back to our community through her volunteer service at the Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled, Oklahoma Children’s Hospital, and at the Norman Regional Hospital ER.
Arlene is graduating with a bachelor of arts in creative media production and a bachelor of arts in English writing. She has worked with Sooner Vision as a jib operator for two years, providing updates on upcoming program sections to assure smooth camera movements during live broadcast sports events. She also works as a freelance creative media producer. Her creative writing has been published in journals including UIW Quirk Literary Journal and The Writing Disorder Literary Journal.
The Irene Rothbaum Outstanding Assistant Professor, endowed by Julian Rothbaum in honor of his wife, recognizes an outstanding teacher and researcher at the assistant professor level.
Dr. Manskey is an assistant professor in English, specializing in early modern literature. His first book, Libels and Theater in Shakespeare’s England: Publics, Politics, Performance, was just published and he is already working on another book. His teaching resonates with students. His nomination letter said, “...as with his scholarship, he is smart, meticulous, and passionate about enabling others to learn.” When the pandemic hit he was able to seamlessly transition into a virtual format and come up with inventive ways to engage his students, and when we moved back to in-person he continued to be just as thoughtful in the delivery of his instruction.
Endowed by Mike Sugg and Sandy Kinney, recognizes a professor in the college who is a model teacher and has demonstrated outstanding scholarship.
Javier’s research is focused on functional analysis, especially Banach space geometry, with an emphasis on its nonlinear and noncommutative aspects. He is a strong member of the Banach space research community. He has taught 14 different courses, and his student evaluations express that while his classes are challenging, they are thankful for his preparation, clarity, and willingness to help. He is innovative in his teaching methods and provides rich resources for his students. He takes on a mentorship role with his students and encourages them to shoot for the stars.
Endowed by William and Jane Longmire, is presented to a professor who exhibits a scholarly and thoughtful approach to innovative thinking.
Dr. Hill has been a faculty member in the Department of Sociology for 10 years. He currently teaches Criminology, The System of Criminal Justice, and Juvenile Justice. Christopher brings a wealth of experience to his role after serving in state-level government roles in Oklahoma and Florida, which lends depth to the theories and concepts that he teaches. His students have said that he is enthusiastic about the material, and he inspires them, and they feel a sense of community in his classroom. Teaching about eight courses per year, Christopher is known as the backbone of the criminology degree.
Endowed by the Pattens, recognizes an outstanding faculty member in the humanities or social sciences.
Dr. Tarabochia encourages her students to take a deeper look and see writing, learning and living as embodied practices. Her nomination letter praises her teaching saying, “Her ability to teach with ethic of care and grace is the hallmark of her teaching and writing.” She challenges her students, and her passion inspires them to rise to that challenge.
The James and JoAnn Holden Faculty Award recognizes outstanding faculty who inspire freshman and sophomore students through their willingness to teach, encourage and support students’ transition into higher education.
Dr. Banas has made significant contributions to undergraduate education at our university. He has created courses such as Communication and Humor and the Art & Science of US Humor that draw students into the subject and engage them in communication curriculum. His students have said that he, “connects with the class where we feel comfortable enough to engage in the class and makes personal connections with the subject we are learning about.” He has also been a guest speaker at the university-wide Graduate Teaching Orientation and numerous other events.
The Al and Jan Schwarzkopf Faculty Teaching Award was established through a generous contribution from Janis B. Schwarzkopf, Mary S. Beer, and Albert B. Shwarzkopf IV to honor Al’s contributions to MIS and OU for recruiting and retaining faculty members of the highest quality and reputation by providing supplemental salary support to associate professors at the University.
Elena has created courses that ae highly engaging for students, but also challenging. Her colleagues said, “She manages to make the content accessible and applicable to their everyday lives, combining the transmission of theoretical knowledge with hands-on learning activities that ensure course concepts are well understood and can be used by students beyond class.” She has also created two new courses including Deception and Risk and Crisis Communication. Her courses have helped diversify the course offerings in the communication department and they have a waitlist every year.
Morgan is the administrative and financial coordinator in the Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work. She consistently goes above and beyond to assure that the school’s needs are met. She is well-informed on policy and if she does not know the answer she finds the answer. She shows initiative to learn new skills and serves as a mentor to her colleagues. She is also kind and easy to work with, forming good relationships with her colleagues and communicating clearly and directly with a willingness to help. .
Aimee is a true asset to the college, in addition to her role as an instructional designer, she lends her design and technical expertise to assist with publication projects for the college, including a beautiful publication showcasing the Withrow Leadership Scholars here with us today. Aimee’s colleagues have said that working with her is “transformative” as she is able to provide clear guidelines and best practices and provide instruction in a way that is calm, reassuring and humble.
Heidi is the administrative and financial coordinator for the school of biological sciences, and she has been instrumental in leading staff in nearly every aspect of the SBS merger. Her colleagues say that she is a, “source of steady and pragmatic information and feedback for all manner for questions posed by people within and outside the school.” She exudes infectious positivity and her efforts to make things run smoothly has also contributed to building a strong community.
Ryan has led the college through significant change, consolidating the supervision of all 28 academic advisors under the Dodge Student Success and Advising Center. He has also led the college through the university transition to how we advise first year students. Throughout the processes his colleagues say he has been, “a compassionate listener and an excellent communicator.” In addition, he has worked tirelessly with campus-wide efforts to transition first-year advising from University College to the degree-granting colleges and he continues to serve on the Academic Advising Task Force.
Mareyba earned her B.S. in psychology and history of science in 2020. As an undergraduate students at OU, her dedication to her studies and her community was clear through the numerous leadership roles she took on including the founding of the Minority Health Sciences Conference, empowering high school students interested in health sciences. She went on to pursue her master's in public health at Columbia University. There she directed the daily Columbia Dispatch Newsletter, served as president of Women for. Women and conducted groundbreaking research. Beyond her academic career, she has served as consultant for the United Nations and a Public Health Law Intern at the CDC. She has continued to show her dedication to healthcare in her role as Senior Consultant at Booz Hamilton in DC and now at Acumen LLC in San Francisco, as a Federal Healthcare Data and Policy Consultant.
David earned his B.A. in Mathematics from OU in 1962 and played a crucial role in coding lunar descent maneuvers for the Appollo missions. His leadership earned him the prestigious presidential Medal of Freedom. He and his wife, Judi, have continued to show their dedication to education, to our OU community and to our future through their generosity to the Department of Mathematics. Their gift to OU has led to the renaming of the department to the David and Judi Proctor Department of Mathematics and has also created endowments to bridge the funding gap for students receiving Oklahoma’s Promise tuition assistance.
Marilyn Ogilvie is a distinguished historian of science with a dedication to honoring the contributions of female scientists. Marilyn graduated from OU with her M.A. in Science in 1983 and her Ph.D. in History of Science in 1973. She served as a professor at Oklahoma Baptist University before returning to OU to serve as Curator of the History of Science Collections, where she expanded the collections and promoted the recognition of women’s roles in science. She has written multiple books in this area with her most recent work being about Marie Curie.
Mehdi earned his B.S. in laboratory technology and microbiology in 1976, his M.S. in environmental science and engineering and his Ph.D. in environmental health in 1981. He has made significant contributions to public and environmental health globally. He has served as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Institute of Corrections, United Nations and the World Health Organization. He has been a part of developing and implementing health safety programs, audits and training initiatives in the United States, Mexico and the Middle East. He established the Azimi-Young Endowed Scholarship for public health graduate education.
Leadership Scholars brings students together from a variety of backgrounds, academic disciplines, and experiences to expand their leadership education. The program is based on three pillars: leadership, service, and community. During bi-monthly meetings, students learn about important aspects of leadership from other leaders on campus and from each other. By learning and serving together, Leadership Scholars gain a stronger sense of their own leadership values and are better prepared to demonstrate leadership in the college and across campus.
In 2014, Cathryn and Jon Withrow endowed the Leadership Scholars program with a magnanimous give of one million dollars. The purpose of their endowment was to fund study abroad scholarships for 20 Leadership Scholars per year. Since their contribution, over 150 Withrow Leadership Scholars have had the honor of studying abroad in France. They return from this experience to serve the college and then the world as they graduate from the university.
In honor of the service of these outstanding young people and with profound gratitude to Cathryn and Jon Withrow for their transformational endowment, the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences awards the 2024 Distinguished Service Award to the Withrow Leadership Scholars and the Withrows on this 10th anniversary of their gift.
