More than 50 employees were recognized during the faculty and staff recognition program on Friday, March 10. Among them were faculty and staff who were recognized for years of service, ranging from five to 35, as well as several special awards.
Congratulations to all of those who were recognized!
OLSON/BLAIR AWARD FOR ADMINISTRATIVE EXCELLENCE: DEBORAH LOYET
Deborah Loyet, executive director, institutional research; HLC accreditation liaison officer; and executive director, administration and faculty affairs, was recognized as being thoughtful, inclusive and forward-thinking, and an excellent supervisor who encourages her staff and colleagues to their full potential. Presenter Michelle Mulhern, chief of staff, noted, “She has accepted new and critical responsibilities while also continuing to seek higher education experiences and other professional development opportunities that provide her with the knowledge, skills and attitude to manage both the tasks and the personnel required by her ever-changing role at NEOMED.”
MARY JANE KELLY AWARD FOR SERVICE EXCELLENCE: COREY ROBINSON
Corey Robinson, specialist desktop support, Office of Information Technology, was recognized for embodying the spirit of the Service Excellence award, by possessing a strong work ethic, unending resourcefulness, a positive attitude and compassionate nature.
GLENN SALTZMAN COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: PATRICIA STEPHENS
Patricia Stephens, project specialist, Department of Pharmacy Practice, was recognized for her contributions to military veterans and the Portage County community. She is a sponsor for the Honor Flight Network and volunteers for Soldiers’ Angels, writing letters and cards to World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans. Locally, she serves as a trustee for the Portage Historical Society, where she helped to raise funds to restore the 1882 Seth Thomas clock and the Carter House. And she fosters cats for Roses Rescue. One of her nominators stated, “Pat is well deserving of this award and may be too humble to want recognition. I am sure she would say that she feels she is doing a small part in all of these organizations, but really, she is making a huge impact, and if all of us did this…what a better world we would be.”
EXCELLENCE IN DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION STAFF AWARD: SONJA HARRIS-HAYWOOD
Sonja Harris-Haywood, M.D., associate dean, curriculum integration, College of Medicine, was recognized for actively supporting the retention of diverse students, faculty and staff. She routinely mentors and tutors diverse students, often into the evening hours after a full day. She does so because she genuinely cares about the success of each student. As she always says, "If we got you here, we are going to make sure that you get across that stage (at commencement).”
EXCELLENCE IN DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION FACULTY AWARD: RACHEL BRACKEN
Rachel Bracken, Ph.D., assistant professor of family and community medicine,
was recognized for her immense passion for teaching medicine students and health professionals about diversity, equity and inclusion. As director of the reflective practice component of the medicine curriculum, she incorporates diversity topics into the content, and students frequently praise her choice of topics.
JUNIOR FACULTY AWARD: STACEY GARDNER-BUCKSHAW
Stacey Gardner-Buckshaw, Ph.D., assistant professor of family and community medicine, was recognized as a highly effective educator and leader. Presenter John Boltri, M.D., professor and chair of family and community medicine, shared, “Since joining NEOMED she has authored over $13 million in grants with a funding rate that exceeds 50 percent. This funding has enabled Dr. Gardner-Buckshaw to mentor over 30 students on scholarly projects leading to 40 conference presentations and posters and a number of publications in peer-reviewed journals many of which include students as first authors.” Dr. Gardner-Buckshaw has also led efforts to train physicians in treatment of substance use disorder and expanding clinical operations at NEOMED to include substance use disorder treatment and behavioral health care.
JUNIOR FACULTY AWARD: MATTHEW A. SMITH
Matthew A. Smith, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences, was recognized for his excellence as an educator, his research and scholarly activity, and leadership of the Basic and Translational Biomedicine program, from which he received his Ph.D. in 2017. As presenter Moses Oyewumi, Ph.D., chair of pharmaceutical sciences, noted, “This is a great success story in support of NEOMED’s mission of creating transformative leaders!” He added, “I can attest that Matt is an exemplary faculty member. He is highly professional, reliable, collaborative with undeniable commitment to NEOMED’s missions in research, education and service.”
LIEBELT-WHEELER AWARD FOR FACULTY EXCELLENCE: CHRISOVALANTIS PAXOS
Chrisovalantis Paxos, Pharm.D., professor of pharmacy practice, associate professor of psychiatry, was recognized as an outstanding educator and preceptor. He has acted as a preceptor for over 100 student rotations, and his excellent precepting skills earned him multiple preceptor-of-the-year awards. Dr. Paxos also has established himself as an enthusiastic and dedicated teacher. “He currently carries the largest teaching workload in the College of Pharmacy,” Mate Soric, chair of pharmacy practice, noted. “Student feedback for Dr. Paxos’s teaching style is overwhelmingly positive. They appreciate his down-to-earth personality, infusion of humor, clear expectations, and mastery of knowledge.” Dr. Paxos has received the College of Pharmacy’s P3 Teacher of the Year Award six times (so far) and has been named a Hooder for six classes.
OUTSTANDING FACULTY RESEARCH AWARD: TAKHAR KASUMOV
Takhar Kasumov, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences, was recognized for his exceptional record of grantsmanship, exceptional publication history, leadership and development of research facilities, and work in innovation and translational research. The nomination committee noted, Dr. Kasumov is “a perfect example of the caliber of the NEOMED faculty.”
SERVICE RECOGNITION
35 Years
Mary Sherman
25 Years
Denise Kropp
William Lynch
Deborah Myers
Margaret Sanders
Mary Shick
20 Years
Jane Dodd
15 Years
William Chilian
Altaf Darvesh
Richard Kasmer
Michael Kempe
Christopher Kolz
Christine Kovacich
Vahagn Ohanyan
Jill Thompson
10 Years
Andre Burton
Christine Crish
Tariq Haqqi
Kimberly Novak
Five Years
Kunal Amin
Sarah Bauman
Richard Chan
Janet Coon
Bethany Dade
Heidi Der
Alexandra Dimit
Jennifer Dougall
Susan Fosnight
Erin Franks
Lee Fredrickson Jr.
James Gadd
Debra Hrouda
Philip Jenkinson
Cynthia King
Catherine Mattinson
Stephanie Orwick
Taylor Phelps
William Pierce
Jayne Poyer
Alyssa Pryor
Nicholas Reeves
Marissa Shepherd
Lindsay Shockling
Matthew Smith
Erica Stovsky
Diane Whaley