Faculty Honored for Teaching, Service, Scholarship

May 10, 2021

Todd Pinkham, Daniel Harris and Kimberly Woznack are honored for their work at Cal U.

faculty

Todd Pinkham (left), Presidential Distinguished Merit Award for scholarship; Dr. Daniel Harris,Presidential Distinguished Merit Award for teaching; Dr. Kimberly Woznack,Presidential Distinguished Merit Award for service.

Three faculty members are the 2021 recipients of the Presidential Distinguished Merit Awards, among the University’s highest faculty honors.

Dr. Daniel Harris has been recognized for teaching, Dr. Kimberly Woznack for service and Todd Pinkham for academic scholarship.

The honorees each will receive a medallion to wear with their academic regalia, and they will be recognized when Cal U returns to modified, in-person Commencement ceremonies May 7 and 8.

Honorees also receive a scholarship to be awarded to a student in their discipline.

Harris is an associate professor in the Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Sciences. In addition to his exemplary work in the classroom, he has developed new elective classes and lab offerings to make Cal U geology students more competitive in the current job market.

He also gives geology presentations at public schools, organizes science workshops for children and recruits high school students for Cal U’s geology program.

Harris’s regular attendance at meetings of professional geologists often become occasions to present joint faculty-student research and to network with industry professionals as a means of introducing students to potential careers.

Woznack, a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, finds service opportunities within and beyond the University.

She holds leadership roles in the American Chemical Society and the Women Chemists Committee, and she received a fellowship from the National Science Foundation to participate in a research project to improve chemistry education.

An advocate for gender equity in STEM, Woznack advises the student Chemistry Club, serves on the advisory board for Cal U’s women’s studies program and is active with the PASSHE Women’s Consortium.

Pinkham, an associate professor in the Department of Humanities, is a prolific artist whose recent work – a mural that covers an 85- by 14-foot overpass at the boat launch in Fredericktown, Pa. – required an extensive review of historical photographs and interviews with local residents.

The mural, commissioned by the Mon River Towns community revitalization program, features images of Fredericktown’s former car ferry and other riverside scenes.

Pinkham also participates as an invited artist at the annual Burning Man International Art Festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert and exhibits his work at galleries in the greater Pittsburgh area.