Posted April 17, 2012
Three Idaho State University faculty members were named as Distinguished Faculty at an awards ceremony on April 12 at the Stephens Performing Arts Center, and will be honored at ISU commencement May 5.
They are Susan Goslee, assistant professor of English, Distinguished Teacher; Jared Papa, service learning coordinator/clinical assistant professor, physician assistant studies, ISU-Meridian, Distinguished Public Service Award, Distinguished Teacher; Maria Wong, associate professor of psychology, Distinguished Researcher.
"These three awards are the highest honors bestowed on faculty at Idaho State University and it is quite a distinction to receive one," said Barbara Adamcik, interim ISU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
"The honorees are among our most accomplished faculty."
Susan Goslee, Distinguished Teacher, is an assistant professor in the Department of English and Philosophy, specializing in creative writing.
Goslee also serves as the chair of the Undergraduate Committee in the English department. She has established multiple events through the years aimed at creating a strong departmental community for English majors and minors.
Goslee has served as the treasurer and a board member for the Appalachian Institute for Creative Learning, a non-profit organization, which provides a residential enrichment program for non-traditional learners and underserved gifted children from Appalachia. She has been involved as a staff member with this organization each summer since the early 1990s.
She also served for several years as the co-director of the Rocky Mountain Writers' Festival and works as a guest teacher at Ellis Elementary School as part of their Building Bright Futures Afterschool Program.
Goslee earned her Ph.D. in literature and creative writing at the University of Utah, a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at the University of Alabama and a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Swarthmore College.
Other finalists for the Distinguished Teacher Award, who are 2012 Outstanding Master Teachers, were Galen Louis, director and assistant professor in the Master of Public Health program, ISU-Meridian; Julie Newsome, associate professor in the Department of Educational Foundations, College of Education; Kevin Parker, professor of computer science and computer information systems, College of Business; and Jean Pfau, associate professor of biological sciences.
Jared Papa, Distinguished Public Service, is a clinical assistant professor in the Physician Assistant program, teaching and working at Idaho State University-Meridian Health Science Center.
He joined the faculty in 2008, after working as a National Health Service Corp Scholar in rural Washington at a health clinic that served primarily Spanish-speaking clients.
Papa's dedication to service in the community is evident in a recent humanitarian expedition to Peru. Papa and a group of students and faculty members traveled to Peru with Operation Condor to provide much-needed care for underserved populations.
Papa is the Physician Assistant program representative to the Idaho Academy of Physician Assistants. As service learning coordinator for the department, he has organized and coordinated dozens of community health screenings in the Treasure Valley. He has also dedicated his time to various free community clinics in the Boise area.
Papa and former faculty member Cynthia Bunde recently received a grant from the ISU Cultural Affairs Council to bring a speaker to campus to discuss traditional Mexican medicine.
Other finalists for the Distinguished Public Service Award, who are 2012 Outstanding Public Service Award winners, were Linda DeVeaux, associate professor of biological sciences; Eugene Stuffle, professor of electrical engineering; and Robert Tokle, professor of economics.
Maria Wong, Distinguished Researcher, is an associate professor and director of the Experimental Graduate Program at the Idaho State University psychology department.
Her major areas of research include substance use and abuse, sleep problems, self- regulation, resilience and longitudinal methodology.
Since coming to ISU in 2004, she has authored and coauthored 24 peer-reviewed papers, one book, two book chapters and 18 peer-reviewed scientific abstracts. She has participated in 36 presentations in national and regional conferences. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Studies, one of the top journals in alcoholism research, has chosen her work twice. Her work has received national and international media attention.
In 2008-2010, she received a $249,642 grant from the National Institute of Health’s National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. She has received internal ISU grants. Wong was co-investigator on two large-scale studies funded by the National Institute of Health at the University of Michigan.
She received the Outstanding Experimental Faculty Award from the ISU psychology department in 2008 and was an ISU Outstanding Researcher in 2009.
Her Ph.D. is from the University of Chicago and she did postdoctoral work at the Institute of Social Research and the Addiction Research Center at the University of Michigan.
Other Distinguished Researcher finalists, who are 2012 ISU Outstanding Researcher winners, were Linda DeVeaux, associate professor of biological sciences; Bruce Finney, professor of biological sciences; Alan Johnson, professor of English; and Scot Kelchner, associate professor of biological sciences.
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