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SALISBURY, MD---Four ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ faculty members, three from the Henson School of Science and one from the Fulton School of Liberal Arts, have been awarded the Distinguished Faculty Award, the University's highest honor.  They are Dr. Michael Bardzell from the Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, Dr. Diane Davis from Health Sciences, Dr. Elizabeth Rankin from Nursing and Dr. Michael Waters from English.  Selected by a committee of their peers, nominees must show outstanding accomplishment in three areas: teaching, research and community service. 

Not only has Bardzell co-authored two lab manuals this year but several of his scholarly articles have appeared in journals, including the humorously titled “Can We Learn Calculus From a Jerk?” (PRIMUS, June 2001), co-written with a former student.   Humor is just one aspect of his excellent teaching. His attention to undergraduate research has distinguished his career.  In collaboration with colleagues, Bardzell has helped establish a successful research program for undergraduates, which has led to a National Science Foundation grant for curriculum development.  For the last five years, he has sponsored student presentations at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research and also played an integral role in the organization of Henson Undergraduate Research Symposia, leading the first campuswide Undergraduate Research Conference.

Davis' ability to relate complicated subject matter to real life laboratory situations has earned her distinction with colleagues and popularity with students.  She has reported findings from her dissertation in five peer-reviewed journals including the prestigious Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications and presented at the International Association of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology in Washington, D.C.  Davis serves as clinical coordinator for senior-level internships and often acts as a consultant to campus officials on safety issues such as blood-borne pathogens and exposure control.  Davis' Clinical Laboratory Science students routinely give exceptional performances on two external national certification examinations, scoring well above national averages.  Recently she has helped design a new orientation program, "Fun with Forensics," that allows students to gain hands-on experience with fingerprinting and DNA testing by solving a fictional murder mystery.

Rankin, described by colleagues as a dynamic innovator both in the classroom and clinical settings, is highly regarded within the University as a leader in technology-based education, including Web-based instruction.  She is a designated faculty mentor in the University's Teaching/Learning Network.  In additional to departmental committees, she chairs the University's Student Research and Travel Committee, co-chairs the University's Wellness Council, is on the Executive Council of the University System of Maryland's Women's Forum, has served on several of the University's search committees, and has been involved with the University's and the National Student Nurses' Association.  She has numerous presentations and publications to her credit, including 65 articles, five instructor resource manuals and four books. Her latest text, Quick Reference for Psychopharmacology, was selected as a "Book of the Year" by the American Journal of Nursing. 

As an award-winning poet, Waters' personal achievements have brought recognition to the University nationally and internationally.  In his 25-year writing career, Waters has published 11 books, seven volumes of his own poetry and four edited volumes of other poets' works.  A sought-after reader around the country, he has also taught at summer programs here and abroad including the prestigious Prague Seminars.  As chair of the English Department's Programs Committee, Waters has arranged for more than two dozen readings by poets and fiction writers in the Writers-on-the-Shore Series, including Nobel laureate Toni Morrison.  Teaching, particularly creative writing classes, remains Waters primary focus, with many of his students winning fellowships to some of the finest graduate writing programs in the country.