From mosquitoes to rural health clinics and English writing, the winners of the 2004 Academic Federation Awards for Excellence span the breadth of UC Davis expertise.
William Reisen, an internationally known expert on mosquito diseases, was chosen for the Academic Federation Award for Excellence in Research. Dorothy Fraser, a family nurse practitioner, and Jared Haynes, a writing instructor, both received Academic Federation Awards for Excellence in Teaching.
The honorees were recognized during a reception Thursday in the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center. The Academic Federation awards are given in recognition of the outstanding contributions by recipients to the teaching and research mission of the Davis campus by non-Senate faculty members. Faculty, students and staff made nominations. Each recipient receives a cash award of $500.
The Academic Federation consists of academic appointees and is parallel in function to the Academic Senate's role for ladder faculty.
William Reisen, a researcher in the UC Davis Center for Vectorborne Diseases, is the director of the Bakersfield field station. Since 2000, he has received new research awards totaling more than $7 million. He came to UC Davis in 1995.
"Reisen is among the world's most respected researchers in the field of arthropod-borne research," wrote Roger Nasci, an entomologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "His work is meticulous, thoughtful and thorough, and embodies the highest standards of scientific research."
During the past five years, Reisen's research has emphasized learning about mosquito-transmitted encephalitis viruses in California, including the West Nile virus. Throughout his career he has worked at honing the mathematical concept of vector capacity and the development of a methodology to conduct research needed to apply the concept to real life epidemiological situations. His research has focused on mosquito populations worldwide.
"This award indicated clearly that being out of sight some 300 miles south of campus did not mean we were outside the realm of campus appreciation for our work," said Reisen.
Reisen has made dozens of scientific presentations at national meetings and has published more than 182 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He has served as editor of the Journal of Medical Entomology and as chair of the Society for Vector Ecology 2001 Lifetime Achievement Award. He also has held elected offices in the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the American Mosquito Control Association.
"I have been exceedingly fortunate, over the past 25 years, to recruit an outstanding team of field and laboratory technical personnel who work exceedingly hard and provide the excellent data that we report in our publications," Reisen said.
Dorothy Fraser has more than 30 years of university teaching experience and 35 years of clinical experience as a family nurse practitioner. Employed by UC Davis since 1999, Fraser is the coordinator of the UC Davis Family Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant Program's Fresno Teaching Center. She also practices in a rural health clinic in the Central Valley town of Firebaugh and in a skilled nursing facility in Fresno.
Fraser has a special interest in geriatrics and teaches courses in the scientific basis of disease -- which won national recognition by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She has focused on geriatric medicine and the advanced principles of primary health care.
Betty Ingell, program director of the UC Davis Family Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants Program, said Fraser is a "positive, high-energy professional role model for our students. Fraser has led the way, Ingell said, to converting much of the program's curriculum to highly interactive, distance-education Web-based formats and she has mentored other faculty, helping them acquire the skills to implement those teaching tools.
Ingell said Fraser demonstrates a "remarkable ability to bring these distance-education courses alive" and to engage students actively in the material.
Fraser gives credit to her students. "Our students are enthusiastic, committed to learning and supportive. Their acceptance of new technology in the form of distance learning has encouraged me to grow as a faculty member," she said.
Jared Haynes teaches critical thinking and technical writing in the English department and for the University Writing program. He has worked at UC Davis for 15 years.
Over the years he has taught many sections of technical writing, writing in the biological sciences, and scientific writing. His background -- a master's degree in biology and a master's degree in English -- helps him both to understand the topics his students write about and how to communicate scientific ideas to a variety of audiences.
"He is a master teacher across a wide range of teaching situations, from freshman seminars and advanced writing courses to pedagogy workshops with faculty across the disciplines," said Gary Sue Goodman, associate director for the University Writing Program.
Goodman describes Haynes as an "innovative instructor" who has not only developed entirely new courses, but continually modifies courses that he has taught successfully for many years. "Because he generously shares course materials with less experienced instructors, the new materials and assignments that he develops often improve many courses beyond his own," she said.
Haynes said he strives to ensure that his students have begun to learn to think independently, to weigh arguments, to judge good reasoning and to reach well-defended conclusions.
"Of course, I'm very happy to receive this award," said Haynes. "But it's hard to see myself as particularly outstanding when I look around at all the other outstanding teachers in the University Writing Program."