Each year, the Office of the Provost and the Faculty Senate co-host the Faculty Awards Convocation honoring members of the Chapman University faculty for teaching, scholarship, and research. We are delighted to report that four Crean College faculty members took home top prizes. We are please to congratulate Dr. Alison McKenzie for receiving a Chapman Unit Faculty Excellence award and the 2022-2023 Valerie Scudder Award in recognition of outstanding achievement in teaching, scholarly/creative activity, and service to the university. Recipients for this award are chosen by their peers for their exceptional contributions. The Valerie Scudder Award was the first award of merit to be given to faculty members by the university. It began around 1980, when trustee Valerie Scudder, a returning adult student to Chapman College, approached the administrators with her desire to honor faculty for their excellence. The first Valerie Scudder Awards were handed out to Virginia Carson, Jim Doti, the late Ron Huntington, Shari Kuchenbecker and the late Ronald Thronson.

Dr. McKenzie is a professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at Chapman University and the Director of Anatomy Laboratory operations at Chapman University, and a Project Scientist in the Department of Neurology at the University of California at UCI. She enjoys combining her extensive clinical, research, and teaching experience in her role as a faculty member and is committed to giving back to the community and profession through service.  Dr. McKenzie has played an integral role in the evolution of the Department and University, holding several leadership positions over the years. 

As the Anatomy Team Leader, she has been instrumental in developing the curriculum, recruiting and mentoring faculty and Teaching Assistants, designing new laboratory facilities on both the Orange and Rinker campuses, and overseeing Anatomy Laboratory operations.

Dr. Amy Moors received a Unit Faculty Excellence Award. Dr. Amy Moors joined Chapman University in 2018 as an Assistant Professor of Psychology. Her research addresses the impact of inequity on people’s belonging and well-being in intimate and professional contexts. Dr. Moors focuses on the relationships people have with others (romantic partners, family, colleagues) and with broader institutions (workplaces, marriage). Much of her research focuses on issues related to gender, sexuality, diversity, and well-being.  She was recently quoted in the April Vogue Magazine (Ruiz, 2022) article: “Is Monogamy Over?”.

Dr. Brooke Jenkins has been chosen to receive the 2022-2024 Wang-Fradkin Assistant Professorship award. The Wang-Fradkin professorships are named in honor of Hua-Cheng Wang, a distinguished political scientist and diplomat, and Dr. Cheng-Mei Wang Fradkin, who was professor of biology and chair of the Division of Natural Science until her death in 1983.  Originally founded by Dr. Fradkin as a fellowship in 1982 in honor of her father, the University in 1996 changed the award to a professorship and added the name of Dr. Fradkin to honor both scholars.  Today the Wang-Fradkin Professorship recognizes exceptional merit in scholarly and creative activity. Dr. Jenkins’ research program focuses on the intersection of stress, emotion, and health. She investigates how individual differences in emotion and emotion regulation affect health outcomes related to stress. She examines these processes across several different stress contexts in diverse populations, including children, adults with chronic illnesses, and individuals of minority backgrounds.

Dr. Jenkins’ name will appear on the Wang-Fradkin plaque exhibited in the Doy and Dee Henley Reading Room of the Leatherby Libraries and she will receive a financial contribution to her research.

The Faculty Development Council (FDC) and the Institute for Excellence in Teaching and Leaning (IETL), and the Office of the Provost has awarded the 2022-2023 Grant for Pedagogical Innovation in the amount of $5,000 for Dr. Leah Beekman’s project Interdisciplinary Continuity of Care in Speech Language Pathology Curriculum: From Infancy Through Adolescence.  The grant for Pedagogical Innovation is intended to support faculty in innovative teaching that advances Chapman’s aim to provide students with personalized education of distinction that leads to inquiring, ethical, and productive lives as global citizens. The council’s hope is that this grant will benefit Dr. Beekman’s professional growth and development.

Congratulations to our award-winning professors!