1998

Charlene Bebko, for Research
Sherrill Begres, for Teaching
Mary Ann Cessna, for Service
Robert Prezant, University Professor
Ed Simpson, for Creative Arts

For Research, Charlene Bebko
Dr. Charlene Bebko of the Marketing Department has an outstanding record of scholarship. Her work in applied marketing concepts for nonprofit, professional organizations is in a relatively new and expanding area of marketing research.

A major part of Dr. Bebko’s research is directed toward services marketing in the field of health care. The significance of this research is in the theoretical application of service quality theory to health care delivery. The expertise and innovative approach Dr. Bebko has brought to the line of research have resulted in two prestigious national awards for two consecutive years, given by the Academy of Health Service Marketing, the specialty division of the American Marketing Association.

In addition to her research in the area of services marketing for health care providers, Dr. Bebko has conducted research and published works that address issues of service delivery in other sectors of the business community. Focuses of this work include nonprofit organizations, banks, realtor services, and universities.

The quality of Dr. Bebko’s research has been recognized at the national level for the past six years. Her national awards as well as her refereed publications and presentations are indicative of her accomplishments. Her research accomplishments rank her as one of the most productive faculty members in the Eberly College of Business and Information Technology. The Marketing Department has, on three occasions, recognized Dr. Bebko’s continued scholarly activity by honoring her with the department’s Research Award. Dr. Bebko’s commitment to high-quality research makes her a most fitting recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Award for Research.

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For Teaching, Sherrill Begres
Dr. Sherrill Begres, associate professor of Philosophy, believes teaching involves not only the intellectual growth of the student but also their active involvement in a new learning community. She puts a lot of thinking into her own course preparation and makes every effort to involve the learner in lively interaction with the subject matter. She sees herself as a guide to empower her students’ thinking in a positive environment. Her excellent teaching in the Honors College demonstrates her respect for various learning styles and her strong ability to build on the strengths of others.

Dr. Begres combines an enthusiasm for teaching with a love of her subject and a sense of humor. These enliven her philosophy courses and transform the learning of difficult concepts from tedium to fun. Her student evaluations continually reflect her widespread reputation as an outstanding and innovative teacher.

The university previously recognized Dr. Begres’s professional distinction by presenting her with a Teaching Excellence Award in 1993, one of the most prestigious awards offered on the IUP campus. Dr. Begres was the recipient of that award because of her reflective practice in the process of teaching ethics. She realized that many of her students, because of their age, did not have the experience to come to critical ethical decisions. So in the classroom she tried to "artificially mature" them by exposing them to videos of real-life ethical problems. She believes that such techniques help to foster the development of maturity and empathy.

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For Service, Mary Ann Cessna
Dr. Cessna describes her style of service to IUP as visionary and nurturing. This is exemplified by her tireless efforts as the director for the Center for Teaching Excellence. As director of the center, she has sponsored and helped develop the Reflective Practice Project and the new Instructional Design Center, has served as one of the two faculty members of the State System Planning Implementation Council, and has organized orientation workshops for new faculty members. Dr. Cessna has also been a charter member of the Honors College Planning Committee and an important member of the IUP Faculty Professional Development Committee.

Dr. Cessna's commitment to service has been widely recognized. In January, 1998, President Pettit featured Dr. Cessna in his five-year report as one of the thirteen "People Who Make a Difference" at IUP. In March, 1998, Dr. Cessna received the first Suzanne Brown Teaching Award, in part for her work with the Center for Teaching Excellence and the Reflective Practice Project.

Other notable achievements for Dr. Cessna include receiving the University Award for Teaching in 1997 and leadership and advocacy for an Instructional Design Center. Through her efforts, the Instructional Design Center became a reality this semester with the sole purpose of assisting faculty members in the use of technology in the classroom.

It is clear that Dr. Cessna's commitment to service and her tireless efforts to improve all aspects of the teaching and learning culture on our campus make her a very fitting recipient for this award.

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University professor, Robert Prezant
Dr. Robert Prezant of the Department of Biology is University Professor for 1998-1999. He earned his doctorate in 1981 at the University of Delaware and joined the IUP faculty in 1987 after teaching biology for six years at the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Prezant is recognized by both his students and peers as an outstanding teacher. He has the ability to organize large volumes of technical material in an understandable manner and presents it with enthusiasm and humor. Dr. Prezant is actively involved with both graduate and undergraduate students. He has directed six master’s theses and is currently directing the research of two master’s students. Also notable is his ability to involve undergraduate students in research. He typically has several undergraduates working in his lab on various independent studies or other funded projects.

Dr. Prezant enjoys an international reputation as a molluscan biologist. He has published repeatedly in this area and has given numerous presentations at national and international conferences. Recently, he published four invited sections in the Fauna of Australia series (a multi-volume set published by the Australian Biological Resources Study), wrote several invited entries on molluscs in the World Book Encyclopedia, and co-authored an article in the Journal of Freshwater Biology. His research has been supported by over thirty grants funded by organizations that include the E. J. Nobel Foundation, the Army Corps of Engineers, the U. S. M. Research Council, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, and the IUP Senate. To date, he has secured a total of over one million dollars in grant funding.

In his tenure at IUP, Dr. Prezant has provided exemplary service to the university, the region, and the national and international biology community. He is currently the chairperson of the Department of Biology, a role he has filled with distinction. Through his leadership he has assisted and promoted the development of a Biology Peer Mentor Program, established the Fund for Undergraduate Biological Research, organized an alumni fund-raising campaign, and co-authored an NSF Infrastructure Grant to renovate and modernize ten biology laboratories. He has served as coordinator of the Animal Biology program and as director of the Electron Microscopy Lab. He also coauthored a Department of the Interior grant that allowed the development of a full-time research facility at the Marine Science Consortium, Wallops Island, Virginia. Notable among his many other activities is his service on the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Aquarium Consortium and as editor-in-chief of the international journal American Malacological Bulletin.

Dr. Prezant’s philosophy is that teaching, research, and service are not distinct activities but form a continuum, supporting and enhancing one another; the education of our students is a common thread among them.

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For Creative Arts, Ed Simpson
The recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Award for Creative Arts, Ed Simpson has been a driving force in the creative and performing arts at IUP for eighteen years. In this time, he has functioned as an educator, theater artist, professional actor, director, and playwright.

Beginning in 1980, Mr. Simpson began a long and illustrious career as an actor and director at IUP by directing his first play, The Jungle Book. Since that time, he has directed twenty-five other plays for the Theater Department, Summer Theater-by-the-Grove, and the Keystone Repertory Theater. As a director, Mr. Simpson has been recognized by the Kennedy Center’s American College of Theater Festival: in 1989, he was given the Meritorious Achievement Award for directing the play Devious Means.

As an actor Mr. Simpson has performed in fifteen equity roles at IUP. He has portrayed such characters as Ross in The Elephant Man, Billy in California Suite, and Jack in Broadway Bound.

It is, however, Mr. Simpson’s skills as a playwright that provides the best measure of his creative achievements. Mr. Simpson has written ten plays; three of them, The Battle of Shallowford, A Point of Order, and The Comet of St. Loomis, have been published by Samuel French, Inc., the world’s leading play publisher. This is indeed an accomplishment of note, as only two percent of the more than 1,500 plays received by Samuel French each year are actually published. It should also be noted that as a playwright Mr. Simpson has been recognized by his peers outside IUP. In the last five years there have been thirty-eight productions of his plays throughout the country in such venues as the Philadelphia Festival of New Plays, the West Cost Theater Ensemble, and the Players Club in New York City.

In fact, according to John Martello, executive director of the Players Club, '...Ed is nothing less than a playwright of the first rank." Granville Burgess, playwright/director and Emmy-Award nominated screenwriter said, "Ed deserves to take his place among the more highly acclaimed playwrights in America."

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