2001

Steven Jackson, for Service
Ronald Juliette, for Teaching
Prashanth Bharadwaj Nagendra, for Research
Annie-Laurie Wheat, for Creative Arts

For Service, Steven Jackson
Dr. Steven F. Jackson, chairperson of the Department of Political Science, came to IUP in 1994 from Rollins College in Florida, having completed his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan and his undergraduate education at Stanford University. He brought with him tremendous energy, enthusiasm, and complete commitment to everything he does on campus, especially when it comes to service to the university community.

Dr. Jackson serves IUP in many ways due not only to an inability to utter the word “no,” but more important, because he wants to see the university advance as an institution. He has a vision for IUP and works tirelessly to advance both the institution and community toward what he feels is a next step, a better step, a more positive step—in general, movement of IUP to a higher level.

Examples of his work and effort are enormous. He serves as the co-chairperson for the Council of Chairs in addition to his departmental chair duties. He has had tremendous influence campuswide with regard to evolving technology: this includes work on numerous grants which total in the millions, extensive involvement with the development of WebCT, and other projects associated with the Instructional Design Center. He was at the core of a team to present the university’s capital funding plan to the Board of Governors in 2000. In addition, he was the 2001 recipient of the IDC Award for Innovative Use of Technology.

Most important, working with others and helping others move forward is to him of utmost importance and provides great personal joy. He is quick to note what a privilege he feels it is to work and to be a substantial contributor to our campus and community.

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For Teaching, Ronald Juliette
Dr. Ronald A. Juliette of the Communications Media Department is a passionate, creative, student-centered teacher who loves his work and strives to share that love with others. The veteran of a thirty-year career in teaching at IUP, he has, for the past twenty years, been IUP’s sole teacher of photography and electronic imaging. He has used innovative methods to teach technique and to foster learning. Dr. Juliette has worked collaboratively with faculty in the Journalism and Theater departments to expand opportunities for students.

Despite the lack of a formal major or minor program of study in photography, many of Dr. Juliette’s students have gone on to pursue successful careers in commercial, fashion, wildlife, and documentary photography and to be accepted to some of the country’s most prestigious graduate photography programs. Alumni who credit Dr. Juliette with influencing their careers include John Beale of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and who has won numerous regional and national awards, and James Harris, who has published several books of his work and whose traveling exhibition, "Coal People:  Contemporary Images of Northern Appalachia," has been featured at IUP’s University Museum.

An excellent teacher not only demonstrates knowledge of his field but a commitment to help his students learn and succeed. Teaching evaluations and letters of support from alumni clearly demonstrate that Dr. Ronald A. Juliette’s dedication, talent, and caring have earned him the 2001 Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching.

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For Research, Prashanth Bharadwaj Nagendra
Since 1994, when he joined the Department of Management in the Eberly College of Business and Information Technology, Dr. Nagendra has been heavily involved in several research-related activities in the production and operations management arena. He has published nine coauthored articles in a number of respected national and international refereed journals and has presented his work at thirty national and international conferences during this period. For the last three years, he has also been the academic program chair of the annual conference of the American Society for Competitiveness. This conference attracts renowned scholars, business managers, and public policymakers from all over the world. He is also the editor of the International Journal of Commerce and an associate editor of two other journals published from IUP.

Dr. Nagendra’s research work has found usefulness not only in the academic world but also in the managerial world. He has been associated with a number of projects targeted at the enhancement of the welfare of employees, businesses, and in general the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. These projects include the deploying of e-commerce, training managers, and helping Pennsylvania entrepreneurs in starting businesses. Several corporations and small businesses have sought his professional consulting advice and research services. Impressive as these accomplishments are in such a short timespan, it is the quality and impact of Dr. Nagendra’s scholarship that we recognize. 

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For Creative Arts, Annie-Laurie Wheat
Since accepting her faculty position at IUP in 1989, Ms. Wheat has excelled in the creative arts—as a costume designer in drama, music theater, and dance productions; as a director of innovative, energetic, and unique music theater productions; as a nationally recognized leader of the creative arts in the field of theater; and as a strong voice for the importance of the arts on the IUP campus and in the greater region of western Pennsylvania.

She has designed costumes for a total of fifty-three productions in academic and professional venues, including thirty-two mainstage productions, five operas, and nine dance concerts. Her off-campus work has been seen in regional Equity theaters and in national universities, community colleges, and high schools.

Ms. Wheat's innovative and creative design work in costumes covers a full stylistic range from classic drama to Shakespeare, contemporary social realism, traditional Broadway musicals, opera, and dance. She has handled all of these diverse genres with stylistic expertise and a thorough knowledge of the specific dramatic challenges unique to each production. Many productions require literally dozens of costumes and have been seen by thousands of people over the years. Her creative vision in costume design has become an integral part of the arts at IUP.

As an energetic advocate for the arts at IUP and in the Indiana community, Ms. Wheat has been most visible as a director of seven collaborative musical productions, as artistic director of the summer Theater-by-the-Grove for five seasons, and as a director of children's theater. On a national level, she has been honored with four Meritorious Achievement Awards from the American College Theatre Festival; she regularly presents at professional theater conferences and symposiums; and she holds national offices in prestigious organizations.

Ms. Wheat's exemplary achievements—her creative costume design, her cultural outreach to the community, her advocacy for and service to the arts at IUP and on a national scale—render her most worthy of one of our university's highest honors. 

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