The State University of New York has recognized eight members of Plattsburgh State’s faculty and staff with 2012 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence. The recipients are: Dr. Linda Luck, for scholarship and creative activities; Dr. Nancy Elwess, faculty service; Drs. Karen Blough, Roberta Wacker and Jean Ann Hunt, teaching; Allison Swick-Duttine and Barry Brown, professional service; and Jill Myers, classified staff.
Chair of the Department of Chemistry, Luck is the author or co-author of 39 peer-reviewed articles, three book chapters and 77 peer-reviewed abstracts. She has been on the editorial board of two international journals and has served as a reviewer of more than 20 other scientific and educational journals. She has also served as a grant reviewer for many organizations including the National Science Foundation; the National Institute of Health; the Department of Defense; the Romanian Ministry of Science; the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport in Croatia; and the United Kingdom Medical Research Council.
Recipient of a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring from President Obama and a professor of biological sciences, Elwess has received more than 32 grants for her personal research, as well as laboratory equipment and student research. She has mentored more than 90 undergraduate students, resulting in more than 100 presentations of their findings at conferences. She has also served as president, vice president and secretary of the campus chapter of Sigma Xi Research Honors Society. She is the associate editor of the e-journal Scientia Discipulorum and is president-elect of the Society of College Science Teachers and chair of its national conference, in addition to serving as a consultant and reviewer for the National Science Foundation; a member of the Mayo Clinic Alumni Association Board of Directors; president of the Eastern Illinois University Alumni Association Board of Directors; and an undergraduate research consultant for LI-COR Biosciences.
Chair of SUNY Plattsburgh’s Department of Art, Blough has designed courses in the art of antiquity, medieval art, Italian Renaissance art, Northern Renaissance art, Jewish art, women in art and the art of the book.
A professor of communication disorders and sciences, Wacker has published several articles, presented more than 20 papers at professional seminars and received a number of research grants.
An associate professor of education, Hunt is a board member of the North Country Teacher Resource Center, vice president of the Literacy Volunteers Board of Directors, a member of the Faculty Senate and its Executive Committee, chair of the college’s Writing Across the Curriculum committee, a member of its Diversity Task Force and an editor of the journal Democracy and Education. She has also co-authored one book and many journal articles and given numerous presentations.
Swick-Duttine has overseen a change in culture since becoming the college’s director of fraternity/sorority life and organization development in 1998. When she came to campus, the average sorority GPA was 2.54, and the average fraternity GPA was 2.38. Now those numbers are 2.92 and 2.74, respectively. The number of service hours done by those organizations has risen four-fold during that same time period, and donations made by fraternities and sororities has grown from $2,974 in 1998 to $55,500 in 2010. Swick-Duttine has also numerous awards, including the Northeast Greek Leadership Association Guenzler Outstanding Advisor Award, the Sigma Sigma Sigma Outstanding Volunteer Service Award, the Student Association William D. Laundry Distinguished Service Award and the Association of Fraternity Advisors Sue Kraft Fussell Distinguished Service Award. She was also named an Anti-Hazing Hero by HazingPrevention.Org in 2007.
As the college’s production manager, Brown has worked hard to train students, manage productions and maintain equipment in a variety of venues across campus. He developed a front-of-the-house safety program that surpasses industry standards and a training program with a rubric for ushers and technicians, through which they are paid according to skills exhibited. He has fostered the expeditionary studies program and won many awards, including the William D. Laundry Award from the college’s Student Association, the Student Association President’s Award and a merit award from Alpha Psi Omega Dramatic Fraternity.
As a secretary to the college, services performed by Myers are shared by three departments: social work, counselor education and human development and family relations. All three department chairs nominated her for this award, citing her ability to foresee and solve problems, her professional skills, her positive attitude, her proficiency with technology and her willingness to go above and beyond.
