2009 FCSM OUTSTANDING FACULTY MEMBER
After earning a Ph.D. from a university east of the Skyline Drive in the late 20th Century, our recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Award came directly to Towson University without passing GO; although he may have made several attempts at GO. All faculty members at Towson are asked to build a 3-legged career stool based on teaching, scholarship and service. While many of us have stools which are somewhat slanted at the top due to our stools having different sized legs, this faculty member’s stool is tall and level.
In a little over ten years, our recipient has produced no less than five books. Twenty-two refereed articles in prestigious journals, 15 book chapters and 37 conference papers have also been written. This averages out to ½ text and 7.5 peer reviewed articles and presentations per year. A two year snapshot of our awardee’s scholarship would be a desirable career for some people. One of the more recent presentations was selected as the Best Presentation at the conference. In addition to all of this, he has been either the Principal Investigator or Co‑PI on six grants totaling over $400,000, with the bulk of the funding coming from the National Science Foundation.
This faculty member’s research is not only of great interest to colleagues in the academic arena, but often is also applicable to real life problems. The media and popular press have picked up on many of the endeavors for inclusion in their presentations and publications.
Our recipient teaches courses from basic freshman level GenEd classes to 700 level advanced graduate classes. As one nominator wrote “I am continually impressed by the way he conveys excitement for the material to the students. He never fails to do an amazing job of teaching the details to the students, getting them involved, and encouraging them to do more.” Another nominator described our awardee as an innovative instructor who incorporates field trips into academic courses so that students are able to see the applications in action. As an aside, I was told by a previous provost, “I always like to take this dynamo faculty member with me on recruiting visits, as his enthusiasm is one of our best recruiting tools.”
Somehow our recipient also finds the time to devote to service. This person has been the department’s Undergraduate Program Director, has served on or chaired eight faculty search committees, and completed many other service duties without fanfare. To quote from one nomination letter, “He takes on all service obligations with rigor and responsibility. If you ask him to do a job, it will get done.” And, as all excellent teachers, this faculty member has been an inspirational and hands-on mentor to many graduate students and junior faculty.
The service component extends well beyond the campus. As the founding member and chair of a special interest group on U.S. Public Policy, one of this group’s documents was adopted by the national organization. Our recipient serves on the editorial board of two major journals, is an advisor to the U.S. Federal Recovery and Transparency Board, is on the executive board of the Maryland Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, and serves on numerous other committees and boards.
I am proud to give you this year’s recipient of the FCSM Outstanding Faculty Award, from the Department of Computer and Information Sciences – Dr. Jonathan Lazar.
(As presented at the Fisher College of Science and Mathematics Forum on October 30, 2009.)
The Jess and Mildred Fisher
College of Science and Mathematics
Smith Hall, Room 312 (campus map)
Phone: 410-704-2121
Fax: 410-704-2604
E-mail: fcsm@towson.edu
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