Title: Research and Teaching Honored at Fall Faculty Convocation

October 14, 2015 – The university community gathered last night to recognize the teaching and scholarship of two professors – one in performing arts and the other in chemistry – as well as the research and tenure achievements of more than 45 faculty members.

Nominated by their peers and selected by committee, theater and performance studies professor Derek Goldman and chemistry professor Christian Wolf received the President’s Award for Distinguished Scholar-Teachers during Fall Faculty Convocation in Gaston Hall.

Extraordinary Impact

“These colleagues have made an extraordinary impact on our community through the integration of ambitious research and scholarly activities and outstanding engagement with our students,” said Georgetown President John J. DeGioia. “They have embodied the very highest level of significant contributions that can be made at the intersection of teaching and scholarship.”

Georgetown President John J. DeGioia, far right, applauds this year’s President’s Award recipients – Christian Wolf, professor of chemistry, and Derek Goldman, professor of theater and performance studies.

Goldman, who also serves as the Davis Performing Arts Center’s artistic director, has worked to strengthen Georgetown’s global engagement in the context of performing arts – most notably through the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics.

The Laboratory, an effort he co-founded with Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy Cynthia Schneider, is a partnership between performing arts and the School of Foreign Service. It convenes global speakers, workshops and performances on campus in an effort to highlight performing arts as a way to build understanding in the face of global challenges.

“Dr. Goldman is regarded for his contributions here in Washington and also nationally and internationally,” DeGioia said. “He’s brought his artistic vision, his warm mentorship and his commitment to social justice to scores of stage productions, publications and classrooms throughout his accomplished career.”

Wolf, who has been a member of Georgetown’s chemistry department for 15 years, is an expert in organic chemistry and has developed a broad research profile.

Prolific Scholar

He has received numerous awards for his work – including an NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award.

“Dr. Wolf is a respected and prolific scholar in his field of organic chemistry,” DeGioia said. “[He] pursues his research in an innovative and collaborative spirit. He eagerly shares his work broadly from classroom to community to the wider world.”

Great Asian Expansion

Tan Chorh Chuan, president of the National University of Singapore, delivered a keynote address about the opportunities, challenges and innovations that shape higher education in Asia.

Tan Chorh Chuan, president of the National University of Singapore, talks about the opportunities, challenges and innovations that shape higher education in Asia.

“The British Council estimates that, by 2020, China and India together will have 65 million students … compared with 20 million in the U.S.,” Tan said. … There’s a prospect that many students in Asia will be able to realize their potential and achieve upward social mobility through education.”

Tan said this provides opportunity for great expansion on the continent, but also comprises a challenge.

“For an institution like the National University of Singapore,” Tan explained, “we need to think deeply about how our graduates will be better able to contribute, excel and compete in such an environment.”

Research, Career Achievements

The university also recognized this year’s Distinguished Research Achievement awardees ­– John Tutino, professor of history and international affairs and Joanne Rappaport, professor of Spanish and Portuguese and anthropology, and the Career Research Achievement awardee, Maxine Weinstein, Distinguished Professor of Population and Health.

Robert Groves, university provost, and Janet Mann, vice provost of research, give John Tutino, professor of history and international affairs, his award for research achievement.

Tutino, the author of numerous articles and books during his tenure at Georgetown, received special accolades for Making a New World: Founding Capitalism in the Bajio and Spanish North America (Duke University Press, 2011). The book received the Bolton-Johnson Prize for the best book in English on Latin American history and the Allan Sharlin Award from the Social Sciences History Association.

“The Distinguished Research Award means most to me because the nomination came from my history department colleagues, and the selection came from faculty colleagues across the university,” he said.

Interdisciplinary Work

Rappaport has written or edited several books as well as volumes, special issues and articles. She received last night’s recognition for her book Beyond the Lettered City: Indigenous Literacies in the Andes, (Duke University Press, 2012).

Robert Groves, university provost, and Janet Mann, vice provost of research, give Joanne Rappaport, professor of Spanish and Portuguese and anthropology, her award for research achievement.

Co-authored with Harvard art historian Tom Cummins, the book won the prestigious Bryce Wood Award from the Latin American Studies Association and the Katherine Singer Kovacs Prize.

Beyond the Lettered City examines the relationship between the imposition of Spanish- language alphabetic and visual literate conventions and at the range of genres of documentary writing available to colonial-era indigenous peoples.

“My book couldn’t have been written by an anthropologist or an art historian alone,” she said. “I think that this interdisciplinary dialogue is what, to me, is most rewarding.”

Career Award

Weinstein, who received the Career Research Achievement Award, has had a long career in the study of fertility, health and aging.

Robert Groves, university provost, and Janet Mann, vice provost of research, give Maxine Weinstein, Distinguished Professor of Population and Health, her award for research achievement.

She has received about $20 million in federal funding – mostly from NIH – and has served as lead editor on multiple volumes published through the National Academy of Sciences and the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

“The recognition – coming as it does from my colleagues, mentors and supervisors – is deeply gratifying, indeed,” Weinstein said.

With more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, she has been published in diverse journals focusing on stress, aging, reproduction, demography, epidemiology, development, mental health and more.

“In sum, professor Weinstein has demonstrated a lifetime record of achievement and distinction that is worthy of all our aspirations,” said Janet Mann, vice provost for research before handing Weinstein her award.