Adrian College promotes, honors faculty during convocation
ADRIAN — New and tenured faculty were recognized, teaching awards were presented, and the guest speaker was met with a standing ovation when Adrian College conducted its convocation Wednesday in Herrick Chapel on the college’s campus.
Tyrone Bledsoe was the convocation speaker. He is the founder and CEO of Student African American Brotherhood. His address gave a personal reflection of his life and influences, a news release from Adrian College said, with tales of the late Martin Luther King Jr. and others who inspired him to do good for anyone and everyone he encountered. His speech was titled “Learning Throughout a Lifetime.”
Several awards were presented to faculty members Wednesday. Tina Claiborne, who joined Adrian College in 2007, was awarded this year’s Ross Newsom Award for Outstanding Teaching. Claiborne, the release said, is a respected leader in the field of athletic training, specializing in injury prevention, sport performance enhancement and athletic training education.
The Teaching Excellence Award was presented to Vic Liberi, a professor in the Department of Exercise Science and Athletic Training. Liberi joined Adrian College in 2009, the release said.
“His passion for athletic training has allowed him to give back to his field as he serves on a number of professional committees,” the release said.
Adrian College faculty president David Bartley said AC’s educators incorporate some form of “Learning Throughout a Lifetime” into their everyday curriculum.
“I am so proud of this faculty before you, and am honored to be a part of them. … We teach the understanding and patience of the process of dissecting, analyzing, and synthesizing a new concept, idea or approach to a problem,” Bartley said in the release. “In the end, our hope is to help graduate students who can appreciate different views of our society having learned to look beyond the surface, by thinking critically and through the lens a liberal arts education.”
The college’s Creative Activity, Research and Scholarship Award was created to honor and recognize significant contributions to a faculty member’s field of study, the release said. This year’s co-recipients were Cedrick Heraux and Zavin Nazaretian from the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice. Heraux joined the college in 2012, and Nazaretian joined AC in 2016.
The two were co-recognized for their work on their most recent scholarly article, “Perceived threat and officer-involved shootings: Characteristics leading to fatal vs. non-fatal instances,” published in Policing: An International Journal.
Adrian College faculty promoted to assistant professor were JoLynne Hall, Department of Mathematics, and Mike Neal, Department of Communication Arts and Sciences.
Kristin Clark, Department of Performing Arts, was promoted to associate professor, the release said.
Faculty promoted to associate professor with tenure were Timothy Clark, Department of Mathematics; Ben Pawlisch, Department of Biology; and Nazaretian.
Faculty promoted to full professor with tenure were Bartley, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Pete Ford, Department of Performing Arts; Liberi; and Greg Thompson, Department of Physics.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Adrian College promotes and honors faculty members during convocation
