Spotlight on award- winning faculty and staff

A frenetic workday followed by stacks of paperwork and late nights in the office may seem like thankless toil to some, but the recipients of the UW's 2002 Recognition Award will tell you otherwise.

The Recognition Awards are a collection of honors given to different University faculty and staff who exhibit excellence in their chosen fields.

This year's winners come from a wide variety of backgrounds and work in a vast range of fields.

"I feel terrific," said communications professor David Domke, winner of one of the 2002 Distinguished Teaching Awards. "It's a great honor. I think it happened because I've been able to connect to students, also to challenge them. I think that students respond well to challenges."

As one of the newest members of the School of Communications (he was hired in 1998), Domke has challenged many popular views on what makes a class and curriculum.

"One of the things we do in my American politics and press class is a game called Stump the Professor," Domke said. "The students get into groups and come up with questions that I have 90 seconds to answer. Sometimes I win, but quite often the students win. It gives them an opportunity to bring issues they care about into the class."

Students in Domke's class might also get to see "guest lecturers" like Jesse Ventura and George Stephanopoulos.

"I often impersonate famous political figures and give a lecture from their perspective," said Domke. "I don't imitate their voices or their behavior, but I take on their personality and the viewpoints I think they would have, and the students ask questions that I answer as that person might."

If Domke represents the teaching techniques of a new generation, Gary Ausman, the retiring head of the international services department, represents the dedication of the UW staff's old guard.

"Twenty-seven years ago I was asked ... if I wanted to be in charge of services for international students," Ausman said. "I never would have thought then that it was going to turn into something like this."

Ausman's six-member department has built a solid reputation of convenience and efficiency over the years, having helped thousands of students abroad go through the procedures necessary to work and study in the United States. He feels this tireless effort is what has earned him the Distinguished Staff Award.

"We take what's a pretty convoluted process and turn it into something fun. After Sept. 11, we were worried that the number of international students might drop off, but to the contrary, we've had an increase of 12 percent in the international population, which brings the number of students up to around 4,200."

One of the most unique and prestigious awards bestowed during this time is the S. Sterling Munro Public Service Teaching Award, and this year's recipient, Dr. Sergio Palleroni, has exemplified the bond between education and community support in his classes.

"I take students into the field and help them to engage with the buildings they see," said Palleroni. "We look at buildings of other cultures and try to figure out what the building in question means to the people who built it. Right now, a lot of people are retreating into a national agenda, so I'm glad to see so many people concerned with addressing the world's problems."

Palleroni teaches comparative history and architecture, shepherding students to observe, and often assist in, building structures in locations scattered across the world.

"In my classes, we look at how a multidisciplinary approach leads to better solutions. Architecture is a field that reaches across the boundaries between science and art and every other subject ... it's something that combines all forms of learning."

When the UW and the greater Seattle community were plunged into anxiety by the events of Sept. 11, Felicia Hecker marshaled the resources of the Middle East Center in the Jackson School of International Studies to educate the population regarding Islam and the Arab world. The weekly presentations were organized by Hecker in a matter of weeks, ultimately drawing more than 15,000 attendees, and were featured in numerous media outlets.

"I feel my commitment to the UW culminated in the Open Classroom lecture series last fall," said Hecker, another recipient of the Distinguished Staff Award. "The lectures in the series were meant to educate the public about Islam, and they were open to anyone who wanted to come. I think they drew the biggest crowd to Hec Ed of any non-sporting event, excepting graduation."

The Recognition Awards are divided into Distinguished Staff Awards for staff members, Distinguished Teaching Awards for faculty, Excellence in Teaching Awards for graduate student teachers, and several special individual awards. Candidates for the awards are nominated by their peers, and University authorities deliberate and decide.

"It's a mysterious process," said Ausman. "To even be nominated, to know that your associates think so highly of you, is a great honor. They had 90 nominees to start with this year, and narrowed it from there down to five final candidates."