Faculty and staff spotlighted at Fall Meeting Awards Ceremony

Abraham O. Smoot Citizenship Award:

Kelly Patterson - Political Science

“Kelly has devoted his career at BYU to serving, from mentoring the individual student to reshaping department policies...” Associate Dean Mikaela Dufur, who conducted the meeting, said.

A professor in political science and associate dean of FHSS, Patterson has also served on college and university committees, chaired his department and directed important centers, Dufur added.

Early Career Scholarship Award:

Mike Barber - Political Science

Barber is recognized for being a student-centered teacher, Dufur shared, receiving great reviews from both students and peers.

She continued, a “dedicated citizen” in the department, college, and his profession, he is a “strong scholar whose work is timely and important in the current political landscape.”

Karl G. Maeser Research & Creative Arts Award:

Michael Larson - Psychology

Larson serves as Associate Chair and professor in the Psychology department. He has published nearly 150 articles growing the field of neuropsychology; more than half of those include student co-authors, including many undergraduate students, Dufur explained.

“He mentors many more students in labs, is a strong and ever-improving teacher, and is an active department, university, and professional citizen, including
serving as associate chair, sitting on the university COVID-19 steering committee, and editing journals,” she said.

Adjunct Faculty Excellence Award:

Jaime Bartlett - Anthropology

Bartlett has worked as an adjunct professor for the department of anthropology for 19 years.

“She has developed a balance of rigor and effectiveness that has made her one of the students’ favorite professors in the department,” Dufur said. Her expertise in the archaeology of Great Britain has brought more diversity to the program, Dufur continued, and her dedication to teaching the introductory classes has brought more students to join the major.

FHSS Early Career Staff Award:

Alison Sondrup - FHSS Internships

“In only a few short months, Alison has revolutionized how internships work for several departments,” Dufur said.

FHSS Excellence in Service Staff Awards:

Brittany Freeze - Research Development Office

She continued, “Brittany has done an amazing job expanding our external grant reach and helping faculty successfully submit external grants. If you’re looking for funding, make Brittany one of your first stops!”

Mary Pye - Anthropology/New World Archaeological Foundation

“She has worked for the New World Archaeological Foundation for more than 20 years, and her archaeological and editorial work have been critical contributions to the prehistory of Mesoamerica,” Dufur said of Pye.

Dean’s Platinum Service Award:

MIchael Bridenbaugh - Dean's Office

Other than his grilling for college retreats, Dufur shared the college’s gratitude for Bridenbaugh’s hard work.

“I think you all know Mike! We are so grateful he does for the college, both in terms of making sure we stay on the straight and narrow and in terms of finding funding for all of the crazy college initiatives we throw at him,” she said.

Martin B. Hickman Excellence in Teaching Award:

Riley Wilson - Economics

“In just his first few years here, Riley has gotten amazing comments and high marks from students on being a spiritually strengthening teacher and one who gets students to actively participate in experiential learning even when teaching classes with names like ‘Applied Econometrics,’” Dufur said.

Martin B. Hickman Innovation in Teaching Award:

Ryan Davis - Political Science

She continued about Davis, “You may have seen Ryan’s innovations in the news, and you have to be impressed by someone who thinks to teach political ethics through Taylor Swift lyrics.”

Martin B. Hickman Achievement in Teaching Award:

Rebekka Matheson - Psychology

Dufur explained Matheson’s students describe her as gifted at teaching complex concepts, as well as the most helpful professor they have had.

“Think about the highest number of graduate or professional school recommendations you have ever written in a semester. I guarantee you Rebekka has written ten times as many,” Dufur said.

Martin B. Hickman Excellence in Teaching by an Adjunct or Visiting Faculty Award:

Laura Redford - History & Geography

Redford is simultaneously a visiting faculty member in History and an adjunct in Geography. She “consistently devises creative experiential learning activities” for both majors, Dufur stated.

FHSS Excellence in Mentoring Award:

Ashley Larsen Gibby - Family Life

“Ashley has mentored many students, including in publishing, but perhaps stands out the most for creating a summer statistics boot camp to prepare students for more sophisticated research projects,” the associate dean said.

FHSS Innovation in Mentoring Award:

Scott Sanders - Sociology

Sanders has grown PEAT (Program Evaluation and Assessment Team) “to new heights,” Dufur explained. The program took him and a group of students to Bolivia and Peru this last spring.

“This program trains students in evaluation and assessment techniques and then pairs them with NGOs, both to help students solidify skills and to provide key information to these important organizations,” she said.

FHSS Achievement in Mentoring Award:

Jay Buckley - History

“Jay has consistently provided exceptional mentoring to students in both traditional scholarship, supervising honors theses and capstone projects, overseeing Redd Center internships, and overseeing Redd Center public scholarship opportunities,” Dufur said about Buckley.

FHSS Excellence in Student Mentoring Staff Awards:

Dorie Haws Child - Child and Family Studies Lab

“Dorie has provided hands-on mentoring to students doing perhaps the most important work in our college: educating and caring for the littles in our Child & Family Studies Lab. Dorie’s efforts have blessed students from many different majors all over campus,” she said.

FHSS Excellence in Student Mentoring Staff Award:

Stefanie Nebeker - Liberal Arts Advisement & Careers

Dufur shared about Nebeker, “Stefanie has done wonders in overseeing student employees in the LAAC, not just managing them but finding ways to use their work experiences to grow students to their own goals.”

FHSS Excellence in Public Scholarship Award:

Jason Whiting - Family Life

“Jason has done extensive work in sharing information with general audiences on how to strengthen and protect relationships, especially within families and marriages,” she said.

FHSS Excellence in Mission-Inspired Scholarship Award:

Kirk Hawkins - Political Science

“He is a great example of work on peacemaking,” Dufur continued. Hawkins has spent years studying populism and how to combat it and will spend this year with the Democracy Institute in Hungary, collaborating with other scholars.

FHSS Excellence in Impactful Scholarship Awards:

Brigham Frandsen, Lars Lefgren and Emily Leslie - Economics

Their work “proposing nonparametric approaches to hairy data challenges” was published in the American Economic Review and has been cited 163 times in a little over a year, the associate dean shared.

Martin B. Hickman Outstanding Scholar Award:

Spencer James - Family Life

“Spencer’s work looks not only at the family, one of BYU’s major focuses, but brings in a second, poverty alleviation,” Dufur said. His most recent work asking how questions about families might work differently in the developing world was rewarded with a Fulbright Award to Benin.

Martin B. Hickman Belonging Award:

David-James Gonzales - History

“DJ has contributed to the college’s belonging and diversity committee as the faculty advisor for Hispanos/Latinos Unidos and a mentor for many first-generation students,” said Dufur. Gonzales has helped organize sessions for scholarly and public audiences on Asian and Latinx experiences and has produced his own historical scholarship on these groups.

Martin B. Hickman Achievement in Citizenship Award:

Gordon Limb - Social Work

Limb served as Director of the School of Social Work for more than 15 years, leading them through a number of key transitions to the place they are today, Dufur explained. She called his service in the college “legendary.”

Martin B. Hickman Excellence in Citizenship for Collegiality Award:

Peter Reschke - Family Life

“Peter has been instrumental in the school in bridging different groups and moving those groups forward on school initiatives,” Dufur said about Reschke.

Martin B. Hickman Excellence in Citizenship for Leadership Award:

Amy Harris - History

Harris has been a leader in creating and growing the family history programs in the college, which are important programs of interest to the university and the Church, shared Dufur. Additionally, Harris has been a mentor to junior faculty in that program and an “important partner across campus.”

FHSS Civic Engagement Award:

Brandon Plewe - Geography

“Brandon has done amazing work building, preserving, and protecting the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, including service mapping and on a state committee,” Dufur said.

FHSS Building Faith & Testimony Award:

Dianne Tice - Psychology

Tice’s students report she helps them build their faith and testimony, Dufur explained.

“Dianne left a lot of notable professional positions and opportunities to come to BYU because she wanted to build faith and testimony… (students) are particularly moved by the way she shares her own conversion story in ways that help them achieve their own conversion,” she continued.

FHSS Becoming BYU Award:

Gary Burlingame - Psychology

Burlingame has served in various citizenship positions at the university, being a blessing on campus for over 40 years, Dufur shared.

“During that time, he’s built an empire of labs for other people, solidified BYU’s reputation in the psychology community by serving as president of major scholarly organizations and on editorial boards and mentored too many students for me to count during the time I had available to prepare this,” she said.

Burlingame’s focus on faith-based and neighborhood partnerships, Dufur continued, has bridged religious and cultural gaps and served as an example to campus of discipleship of Jesus Christ.