The Eberly College Magazine, Spring 2008 - West Virginia University

Martis wins 2007-08 CASE
Award
Dr. Kenneth C. Martis was recently honored with
the 2007 West Virginia Professor of the Year award by the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and
the Council for Advancement and Support of Education
(CASE).
“Receiving this award is one of the most wonderful and
humbling experiences of my life,” said Martis. “I’ve been
honored to read the many letters written by former
students about how my teaching has benefited their lives.
That alone is the best reward I could possibly receive.”
Dr. Martis earned his B.S. in secondary education at the
University of Toledo in 1968, his M.A. in geography from
San Diego State University in 1970, and his Ph.D. in
geography from the University of Michigan in 1976. He is
a member of the Association of American Geographers,
the Organization of American Historians, and the National
Council for Geographic Education. He has also received
various other awards including the 2006-07 WVU Eberly
College Outstanding Teacher and the 2007 WVU
Foundation Outstanding Teacher.
Many of his publications were supported by research
grants and have received awards, including from the
American Library Association, National Science
Foundation, and Washington Book Publishers. His most
recent book, Historical Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections:
1788-2004, combines history, geography and politics to
map election outcomes for all counties in every
presidential election.
—Lauren Peretti
Arts & Sciences | 26 | Spring 2008
Research Awards
The Eberly College was pleased to recognize three professors—George
O’Doherty, associate professor of chemistry; Steven Zdatny,
professor of history; and Mark Brazaitis, associate professor of
English—with the Outstanding Researcher Award for 2007.
George A. O'Doherty, a native of Ireland, holds a B.S. in chemistry from
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. in chemistry from The Ohio
State University. He did postdoctoral work at Imperial College of
London, England and was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral
Scholar at Stanford University. He was recently named as Woodburn
Professor of Chemistry in the Eberly College. His research has been
funded by grants from the American Chemical Society, the American
Cancer Society, the National Science Foundation, The Arnold and Mabel
Beckman Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.
Steven M. Zdatny, professor of history,
holds a BA and MA in history from SUNY-
Buffalo and a Ph.D. from the University of
Pennsylvania. He has previously won Eberly
College and WVU Foundation teaching awards
as well as grants and fellowships from the
National Endowment for the Humanities, the
American Philosophical Society, France's Bourse
Chateaubriand, and the U.S. Holocaust
Museum. He has also been a Fulbright Senior
Scholar. Zdatny's research is primarily focused
on trade unionism in France, particularly in the hairdressing trade. His
most recent book, Fashion, Work, and Politics in Modern France, reconstructs
the evolution of coiffure from the miserable barberships of the 1880s to
the mass-luxury of style icons such as Jacques Dessange.
Mark Brazaitis, associate professor of English, was awarded with the
Outstanding Researcher Award and also just recently awarded with the
Outstanding Teaching Award for 2008. Please refer to the 2008 Teaching
Award, page 25, for his bio.
—Corissa Greer
Public Service Award
Dr. Jack Hammersmith, professor of history, is the recipient of the
2007 Outstanding Public Service Award.
“I am honored, especially given the tremendous service commitments of
so many of the faculty in the Eberly College,” Hammersmith said. “For all
of us, service reflects one very important component of our faculty life
and a way we can reinvest what we do to make WVU, our community,
state, and world better places in which to live.”
A member of the WVU faculty since 1968, Hammersmith has compiled a
lengthy record of service on university, state, and national levels. The
most sustained and substantive has been his role in FACDIS (Faculty and
Course Development in International Studies), the statewide consortium
of nearly 400 college and university professors. FACDIS aims to improve
the teaching of international subjects within all state institutions, from K-
12 as well as in higher education. Since Hammersmith became FACDIS
director in 2001, the group has won national, regional, and state awards.
Hammersmith has also served on boards appointed by the governor and
sponsored by the WV Higher Education Policy Commission to enhance
international education. He is currently working on a biography of James
Morton Callahan, a pioneer in U.S. diplomatic history and one of WVU’s
most notable professors.
—Jane Donovan