Robert L. Stearns Award

“Her work has led to shifts in the way teachers view the potential of their students and the value of knowing how to read and write in two languages,” said a school principal familiar with her work.

A CU professor of education since 1998, Kathy is especially interested in the development of bilingualism and biliteracy in the early elementary grades for Spanish-speaking minority populations in U.S. schools.

Eschewing traditional reading approaches for bilingual students, she focuses on the cultural and linguistic resources available to each child and evaluates them on their progress in both languages to better help them develop reading and writing skills in each.

Kathy is no ivory-tower dreamer: She takes pains to help apply her academic research findings in the real world. In 2004, she helped conceive the Literacy Squared initiative for advancing biliteracy programs for emerging bilingual students in U.S. schools, for example. She’s also advised the Colorado Department of Education and its Office of Civil Rights.

Kathy’s students at CU applaud her for fostering a sense of community in classes and addressing topics that are relevant, significant and sometimes controversial.

Said a peer:

“I will consider myself to be a successful scholar, friend, mentor and human being if I can live up to even half of what Dr. Escamilla has meant to her students, colleagues, friends and family.”

As director of the Institute of Artic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) and professor of geological sciences and environmental studies, Jim is a hugely prominent figure in the study of Earth and its environment. His scholarship has (for example) deepened our understanding of the global carbon cycle, reconstructed ancient environments and illuminated the degree to which plants can absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide.

A solid citizen of CU Boulder, he launched the Environmental Studies Program, has guided faculty searches inside the sciences and out and earned a reputation for sound judgment and cool-headedness. He also led development of the campus’ new Sustainability, Energy and Environment Complex.

“He is the faculty member we should all aspire to be,” one colleague said.

Despite Jim’s exalted stature among researchers, he routinely teaches undergraduate courses, including “Introduction to Environmental Studies,” and speaks at middle and high schools, public libraries and retirement homes.

 “In the midst of the hard work and sobering science of climate change research,” said a former student, “his positive attitude and easy laugh reminded me that it is also fun to be able to learn something new about the natural world.”

Jim believes some questions may lie beyond the grasp of science. He’s active in his church and in the Lutheran Campus Ministry — an “encouraging,” “approachable” and “humane” person who happens to be “one of the brightest researchers around.”

• Adam Bradley travels in many worlds.
• A refreshingly original scholar of African American literature and culture, the CU Boulder English professor spreads knowledge and stokes curiosity among an astonishing variety of learners that includes — in addition to his admiring university students and fellow scholars — high schoolers, prison inmates and the general public.
• He joined the CU Boulder faculty in 2009, after teaching at Dartmouth and Claremont McKenna colleges, and is now an associate professor and director of the Laboratory for Race & Popular Culture (RAP Lab), a CU academic center that facilitates research on race and culture.
• Through his scholarly and popular books, personable teaching style and consistent efforts to engage audiences outside the university, Bradley has established himself as a bona fide public intellectual and, as one colleague put it, a “spokesperson for the future of the humanities.”
• Bradley’s major published works include Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop — which in 2013 was required reading for incoming students at the University of Pennsylvania — and Three Days Before the Shooting, Ralph Ellison’s unfinished novel, which he co-edited. Bradley co-wrote the New York Times bestseller One Day It’ll All Make Sense, the memoir of Grammy Award and Academy Award-winner Common.
• Two other books are under contract with Yale University Press, including The Poetry of Pop, which is expected to be published next year.
• Bradley takes teaching seriously, at CU and beyond, mentoring students of all types at all levels. His “Hip Hop in the Classroom” program has introduced the lyric-intensive music genre into pre-collegiate school curricula, using a familiar art form to prompt serious inquiry. He is also working with inmates at the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility in southern Colorado on an inmate-driven program geared at positively transforming the lives of imprisoned gang members.
• Colleagues and students describe Bradley as “personable, helpful, clear,” “kind respectful and encouraging” — and “effortlessly cool” while unfailingly humble.
• “As much as I appreciate having had him as a teacher,” said one student, “I’m grateful to know him as a person.”

• Dave Plati came to CU Boulder as a freshman in 1978. He’s since become both a beloved member of the university community and an institution within collegiate and professional sports in the State of Colorado.
• A gifted and inventive sports statistician known for astonishing feats of memory, Dave knew early what he wanted, and went he after it: While still an undergraduate he worked in public relations and data development for CU’s sports information office, a minor league baseball team and the Denver Broncos.
• Dave doesn’t brag about it, but he is widely credited as the father of a football statistic known as “scoring percentage inside the 20” (the “red zone”), a measure used by coaches at the highest levels of the game.
• In 1984 he was named CU’s sports information director, becoming the nation’s youngest. Today Dave is associate athletic director for sports information and CU’s longest-serving sports information chief.
• For 37 years Dave has been at or near the center of every major CU sporting event — more than 1,500 in all — including Rose Bowl and Heisman Trophy triumphs and dozens of national skiing championships. He has ably and loyally led CU athletics through its best times and worst.
• He keeps his hand in professional sports as part of the Broncos’ and Colorado Rockies’ statistics units, among other activities.
• Sometimes Dave plays a little, too: In 2005 he won the 2005 Rocky Mountain Golf Writers Association tournament.
• Admirers note that Dave “works around the clock,” and seems to place CU above himself. He’s written two books about CU football and teaches a course in sports media relations.
• “I… can’t imagine anybody who has given more of their heart and soul to this school,” says an acolyte.
• If Dave’s not thinking about sports, he’s probably at a rock concert: He’s attended 340 live performances, with Jimmy Buffet as headliner for 32.

• Early in his career, CU Boulder physicist Steven Pollock taught an upper division course with just three students in it. He was accustomed to lecturing, so he lectured.  
• “I look back on it now and say, ‘What was I thinking?’” he’s said. “But I didn’t know any better.”
• Steven began studying how college students actually learn physics and reimagining how they could, scientifically evaluating a variety of alternative teaching techniques. He is now widely recognized as a leading scholar in the field of physics education research.
• In 2013, Steven was named a U.S. Professor of the Year by Carnegie/CASE, a designation reserved for the nation’s most outstanding undergraduate educators.
• A theoretical nuclear physicist by training, Steven breaks away from the traditional lecture format. His students often work in small groups and apply their learning to real-life issues. During class they use clickers to answer questions, allowing him to assess learning on the spot.
• Steven has led major curriculum innovations in numerous CU physics courses, ranging from introductory calculus-based mechanics to senior-level quantum mechanics. Students perform better through his innovative pedagogy and consistently give his courses the highest ratings.
• “He comes into class every day and he has so much enthusiasm,” says one student. “It’s just like, ‘Physics! Physics! Physics!’ And it’s hard not to be enthusiastic with him.”
• Recognizing that many students learn well from other students, Steven in 2003 introduced the hugely successful Learning Assistant (LA) program into the physics department. It enlists undergraduates to help their peers, while also improving faculty pedagogy. The program is now used in about a dozen academic departments.
• Steven has earned every CU teaching award possible and is one of just two CU Boulder professors to win the Professor of the Year Award. The other was Nobel laureate Carl Weiman.

• During the past 40 years, he has taught 24 different courses to undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students related to special education and bilingual education, many of which he developed himself.
• Leonard is credited with being a founder of the field of bilingual special education. With his contributions and research, the field has gained much more knowledge about how to understand the intersection of language learning and disability and how to account for cultural and linguistic variety in education.

• He is the principal investigator for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission, dedicated to studying the upper atmosphere of Mars, which successfully launched in November 2013 and is expected to reach the Red Planet this September.
• Bruce also teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Earth and planetary geology and extraterrestrial life.  He is a faculty research associate in CU Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and is the director of the university’s astrobiology center.

• Since then, he has been involved in training physical therapy students and physicians in the management of musculoskeletal problems.
• In 2004 Paul switched to a dual appointment within CU, continuing to work in WHC while taking on a faculty position at the CU medical school where he is an associate professor in the physical therapy program.

• Since then, Maren has proven to be nothing short of a problem-solving dynamo who approaches every task with nothing less than 110 percent. As director of budget and operations for Student Affairs, Maren has quietly shaped key university initiatives without public acclaim.
• Maren’s leadership as chair of the Center for Community Building Committee was instrumental in bringing together the diverse thoughts and visions of numerous departments. In her role she developed a comprehensive understanding of the needs of the future tenants of the Center for Community, an $84.4 million project, and negotiated conflicts to streamline design processes and construction schedules. Under her leadership, the building has truly become a center for community for students, staff, faculty and visitors.
• Drawing on her prior experience volunteering on the student run Finance Board, she works with student leaders helping them understand complex financial issues. Maren consistently strives to ensure students receive the best services possible within the financial means of Student Affairs.
• At the request of the Chancellor, Maren chairs the Campus Use of University Facilities (CUUF) committee. She led the committee through the arduous process of revising and updating the CUUF policy until the update was endorsed by the Chancellor and adopted by the campus.
• The CU Boulder Alumni Association is honored to present the Robert L. Stearns Award to Maren Additon to recognize all that she does to make CU Boulder a stronger community.

• Daniel learned music from some of world’s most respected institutions in the world, including the Oberlin Conservatory, the Juilliard School and the Teachers College of Columbia University. And because of his presence and prowess, he’s now put CU’s College of Music on par with those same schools.
• For the past three consecutive years, CU Boulder has been cited by the Fiske Guide to Colleges as one of just 25 in the nation — among a total 1,200 music programs in higher education — for its excellence in music. It has been ranked in the top 20 among all college, university and conservatory music programs by U.S. News and World Report. The reason? Daniel Sher.
• Daniel Sher has served on committees, boards and societies far too numerous to mention here, but suffice it to say his service with those groups and this school has led to collaborative and strengthened relationships with virtually all of the major arts organization in Colorado, including the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the Aspen Festival and School, Central City Opera, and the Boulder Philharmonic, among several others. CU Boulder leaders praise Daniel and say he’s been the instrumental piece in establishing the university as a cultural and performing arts hub that attracts upwards of 385,000 citizens to the campus annually.
• Of all his triumphs, Daniel says it’s the relationships he helped forge that make him most proud.
• Well, what makes the CU Boulder Alumni Association proud is having Daniel Sher as part of our school. Daniel stepped down as dean at the end of June, but thankfully he decided to stay and serve on the faculty. And so the association is honored to present the Robert L. Stearns Award to Daniel Sher for all of his distinctive dedication and incomparable achievements.

• Ryan is instrumental in bringing students to the university — overseeing recruitment in all undergraduate programs within the state of Colorado, the rest of the United States and abroad.
• For the last 15 years, Ryan has worn many hats at the school. Here’s a little of his job description: he helps lead the Admissions Office, which is home to more than 70 full-time employees and 60 seasonal and student staff. He oversees the recruitment division that visits more than 180 Colorado high schools in more than 30 states in the United States and 15 countries around the globe.
• Ryan also oversees the operation division responsible for processing all undergraduate and graduate applications, transcripts and other credentials for students who apply for admission to CU Boulder. CU receives roughly 30,000 undergraduate applications and more than 10,000 graduate applications every year, which includes more than 100,000 documents and credentials.
• But wait, there’s more. Ryan also works directly with information technology groups on the Boulder campus and at the CU System office to create and maintain technologies used in admissions and throughout all the CU campuses.
• Hold on, a little more. When he’s not at CU putting out metaphorical fires, you can often find him helping others in our community putting out real fires (and in Colorado, that can be a tall order) as a volunteer fire fighter and emergency medical technician with the Louisville Fire Protection District.
• But beyond all those duties, what makes Ryan particularly proud is working with students to help them pursue and earn a degree in higher education.
• And all of that makes the CU Boulder Alumni Association proud to present the Robert L. Sterns Award to Ryan Chreist for all of his hard work, his superior skills and his self-sacrificing dedication to CU Boulder.

• She focused a lot on technical topics such as standard setting and test bias. That’s particularly appropriate, because by any measure or any standard, Lorrie is a perfect fit for this award.
• Her first job after graduating was with the California Department of Education. Fortunately for CU Boulder, she returned here and joined the faculty. And ever since then she’s built a stellar career leaving significant milestones in educational research along the way.
• She has conducted extensive large-scale studies on learning disabilities, grade retention, kindergarten screening and teacher testing. In the 1980s, Lorrie’s research revealed that school readiness tests were basically disguised I.Q. tests. This was important because poor and minority children who needed early access to pre-reading literacy experiences most were being kept out of school by those same tests. Her work caused entire school districts to rethink their policies regarding readiness testing.
• Her frequently cited review, “Evaluating Test Validity” is especially notable because it considered not just a test’s psychometric properties but also intended and unintended consequences of testing.
• Lorrie’s 2000 American Educational Research Association presidential address, “The Role of Assessment in a Learning Culture,” later published in the Educational Researcher, has been cited by scholars more than 1,100 times. In it, Lorrie reviews research documenting how assessment can be used to support high-level cognitive development, and at the same time, contribute to students’ sense of themselves as capable learners.
• Students and educators across the country owe Lorrie a great debt of gratitude for her work and commitment to education, and that’s just one of many reasons the CU Boulder Alumni Association is delighted to present the Robert L. Sterns Award to Lorrie Shepard for her groundbreaking work and for making CU Boulder’s School of Education one of the best in the country.
• Lorrie was unable to attend the Awards ceremony but videotaped her acceptance speech. You can watch it here.

• Bernard is a professor of civil engineering at CU and founding president of Engineers Without Borders – USA, an organization working to ensure humans in developing countries have their basic needs met.
• It started in 2000 when Bernard struck up a conversation with Angel Tzec, a landscaper from Belize working in Bernard’s backyard. He invited Bernard to visit his village in San Pablo, Belize, which lacked clean water. Bernard went and was stunned when he saw little children carrying water all day long from a nearby river. As a result, they could not go to school.
• Bernard returned to the village in 2001 with eight CU engineering students who, with the local community, installed a clean water system powered by a local waterfall. The project cost $14,000. Thirteen months later, EWB-USA was officially incorporated. Today more than 12,000 members work in 45 countries on more than 350 projects that include water, renewable energy, sanitation, education and more. It is estimated that 1.5 million people around the world have benefitted from EWB-USA projects.
• Bernard serves as faculty director of CU’s Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities, a group that educates engineering students and professionals on how to offer sustainable and appropriate solutions to low-income communities around the world.
• Among a long list of distinctions, Bernard has won the Heinz Foundation Award for the Environment, is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering and was elected an Ashoka-Knight Fellow in 2010.
• His work has been featured on National Public Radio, PBS NewsHour and in Time magazine.
• The CU Boulder Alumni Association is proud to present the Robert L. Stearns Award to Bernard Amadei for his thoughtful and far-reaching work to make the world a better place to live.

• Brian has spent more than a quarter century on the Boulder campus from linebacker and graduate assistant to recruiter and interim head coach. His tenure as a full-time assistant ranks as the longest in CU history, not only for football, but for all sports.
• But it’s not just the amount of time he’s spent here ― it’s the quality of his work that sparkles. He’s known as one of the top linebacker coaches in the nation, sending several of his students to National Football League stardom. Through the years his players have registered more than 6,000 tackles. And he’s earned numerous awards and honors, including the AFLAC National Assistant Coach-of-the-Year Award and a spot on the 2007 CBSSportsline.com’s All-Coaching Staff for Linebackers.
• All of it comes as no surprise when you consider Brian’s auspicious start at CU, where as a standout linebacker, he lettered three seasons, captained the team to a CU Big Eight championship and took home the Big Eight Conference’s Player of the Week for – get this – 25 tackles in a CU 27-21 win over Stanford – a feat that’s still tied for the fourth most in a single game.
• He left Boulder to become a nine-year NFL veteran and earned the ever-coveted Super Bowl ring with the Chicago Bears in 1985.
• Off the field he’s shown a more gentle side. He gives time to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and is a founding member of the Polynesian Coaches Association where he promotes the advancement of ethnic minorities in sports and higher education.
• The CU Boulder Alumni Association is proud to present the Robert L. Stearns Award to Brian Cabral for his relentless devotion and service to CU football, students and the university.

• Thankfully, he will stay on campus as the Raphael J. Moses Professor of Natural Resources Law as he’s eager to return to teaching and mentoring students.
• Under David’s tenure as dean, the law school’s academic offerings expanded with three master’s of law degrees, three new legal clinics, three certificate programs and eight dual degrees. New projects also surfaced, one of which is an endowed experiential learning program that gives students access to clinics, externships, appellate and trial competitions and volunteer public service work.
• David also led in raising $28.5 million in donations, increasing the law school’s endowment 80 percent since 2003. The growth allowed him to boost the number and dollar amount of scholarships for law students, which he says was one of his highest priorities ― providing access to law school for people who couldn’t afford it.
• Another obvious highlight of his tenure as dean is the $46 million, 180,000-square-foot Wolf Law Building that opened in 2006.
• Long before his days as dean and professor, David was founding executive director of the Boulder-based Native American Rights Fund, a nonprofit American Indian-interest law firm, in 1970. He joined CU’s law school faculty in 1979. Later he served in the cabinet of Colorado Gov. Richard D. Lamm as executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. He is considered a national authority in natural resources and Indian law.
• The CU Boulder Alumni Association is proud to present the Robert L. Stearns Award to David Getches for his extraordinary leadership and undying dedication to CU’s law school.

• But he also has received grades from those very same students. Very good grades. In fact, in the 50 master’s and doctoral seminars he’s taught, students have given him an instructor rating of 5.6 (on a 6- point scale) ― a rating consistently above the campus and education school averages. More than half of the courses he’s taught earned an instructor rating of 5.8 or higher.
• Others have recognized Dan’s teaching prowess and dedication to education. His research and professional work have netted awards from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, The American Education Studies Association and the Association of Teacher Educators. He was a finalist for the President’s Teaching Scholars Award, a CU honor for university faculty to recognize excellence in teaching. In addition, he won CU’s Student Organization for Alumni Relations (SOAR) Teacher Recognition Award, a student-generated award for excellence in teaching.
• When not teaching, he’s working to make CU a school of choice. For instance, he helped create and launch the Miramontes Fellowship Endowment, which was established in honor of the late Ofelia Miramontes, a former CU education professor and associate vice chancellor for diversity. The award goes to underrepresented or first-generation college students in education. Originally the endowment was for 10 years. However, it’s been so successful that Ofelia’s husband, Bill Barclay, increased his commitment to $2 million to fund it in perpetuity.
• Dan helped develop and currently co-directs Colorado Courage to Teach, a professional development program for public school personnel lauded by many in the profession.
• The CU Boulder Alumni Association is proud to present the Robert L. Stearns Award to Daniel Liston for his outstanding commitment to excellence in the classroom and in the field of education.

• John’s kindness and enthusiasm have inspired legions of physicists, and his tireless devotion to his work has helped the university’s physics department gain international recognition.
• John earned his doctorate from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1977. He worked at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory until he began his teaching career at CU in 1981. Since then, he has become a world leader in the field of high-energy particle physics and has published more than 200 research papers.
• John’s research focuses on the properties of quarks. While he worked at the Fermi Lab, he studied the lifetimes of these particles. Today, his research is helping physicists better understand the relationship between matter and anti-matter and what happened in the first micro-seconds after the big bang. His research group designed, built and installed a critical detector component on the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland.
• One of his goals always has been to help strengthen the university. He has served as a faculty leader and expert on many important campus committees.  Moreover, John is an outstanding professor whose contagious passion for his subject has infected many students, causing him to win the Best Should Teach award.
• John is the kind of scientist that makes others around him better, and his positive influence as a mentor can be seen in laboratories nationwide.
• The CU Boulder Alumni Association is proud to present the Robert L. Stearns Award to John P. Cumalat for his inspiring dedication to advancing the field of physics and the university as a whole.

• Rich became a CU professor in 1990 and is the Alfred T. and Betty E. Look Professor of Chemical Engineering. Since then he has received 13 teaching awards during his 29-year career. He was chosen by students to receive the Chemical Engineering Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award three times and the Outstanding Graduate Teacher Award four times.
• In terms of research, Rich’s work on membrane separations and chemically-facilitated separations has gained national and international acclaim. He has published over 275 peer-reviewed journal papers, edited or contributed to 11 books, has 18 patents and eight patents pending. He was named CU Inventor of the Year in 2008. His work has been recognized with 10 research awards, including the 1995 College of Engineering and Applied Science Outstanding Research Award and the Boulder Faulty Assembly Excellence in Research Award in 2001.
• He is the founder and co-director of CU’s Center for Membrane Applied Science and Technology, the country’s leading membrane research center. It supports research on membrane-based separations related to significant societal problems, such as the removal of toxic compounds from air and water.
• Beyond his academic accomplishments Richard has been a dedicated volunteer for the nonprofit Voices for Children. He has volunteered as a court-appointed special advocate with the organization for 20 years, working as an advocate and adult friend of abused and neglected children in Boulder County. He has served on the organization’s board since 1996, including a two-year term as president.
• The CU Boulder Alumni Association is proud to present the Robert L. Stearns Award to Richard D. Noble for his commitment to serving others and work for the advancement of students, society and the CU and scientific communities.

• One of his greatest legacies is helping to build the campus culture into a highly entrepreneurial organization that rewards hard work and innovation. Faced with two major campus budget reductions  during the last decade, Ric’s planning and financial savvy steered the university in a positive direction.  He has been responsible for supporting and finding funding for all of the new construction on campus over the last 15 years, including the new law, business, ATLAS and visual arts buildings. 
• Ric has been active with Boulder Community Hospital, the Chamber of Commerce and the Boulder Economic Council, helping bridge the gap between the campus and business community.  Through the nonprofit Boulder Innovation Center, which he helped form, CU faculty have transformed their emerging technologies into products.
• Ric’s leadership skills are especially pronounced in the development and implementation of Flagship 2030, the university’s strategic plan. Throughout the planning process, he challenged the institution to think big and act strategically. His vision focused on CU Boulder as a model flagship university of the 21stcentury.
• Through Ric’s range of experience and oversight, there are only a few campus departments that have not felt his guiding hand. With exceptional communication skills, he is able to explain complex budgetary issues in clear language, inspiring confidence at all levels of the institution and beyond.
• The CU Boulder Alumni Association is proud to present Ric Porreca with the Robert L. Stearns Award for his creativity, tireless service and problem-solving that has helped CU Boulder establish itself as one of the nation’s finest public institutions.

• He is the College of Arts and Sciences Professor of Distinction of History and International Affairs and an adjoint professor of political science.   Previously, Bob served as the director of CU’s international affairs program.  Many of his books consisting of his pioneering research on American policy during the Vietnam era are standards in the field and indispensible resources.  His awards include the prestigious Ferrell Book Prize.
• For the past 10 years, Bob has served as editor-in-chief for Diplomatic History:The Journal of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations and has been involved in many professional associations.  He was the 2000 president of the Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations. He is a member of the Historical Review Panel of the Central Intelligence Agency and served for 10 years on the State Department Advisory Committee of Historical Diplomatic Documentation. 
• Bob’s service to the university includes being vice chair and member of the executive committee of the Boulder Faculty Assembly and co-chair of the undergraduate task force for the CU Flagship 2030 effort.  Since 2006 he also has organized and led the two-day Alumni College event that brings alumni and friends to campus to discuss critical issues of the day with the university’s most foremost experts. It is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Alumni Association.  His outreach efforts have been major contributors to the CU Foundation’s fundraising efforts.
• The CU Boulder Alumni Association is proud to present the Robert L. Stearns Award to Robert D. Schulzinger for his impressive academic achievements and his constant dedication to CU.

• Since then he has received broad recognition and numerous awards for outstanding teaching. In 1989 he was named a University of Colorado President’s Teaching Scholar, CU’s highest teaching honor. This month he is retiring after 44 illustrious years at CU.
• Doug’s contributions go beyond the classroom. He served as the English department’s associate chair for undergraduate studies for more than one-third of his time at CU. As associate chair he has been responsible for planning the undergraduate curriculum for the department and advising approximately 1,100 students.
• He has served on the University Honors Committee since the 1980s. His commitment to excellence and his desire to promote scholarship have enhanced the English department honors program. Doug regularly directs numerous honors theses in a single year, giving his time, sharing his wisdom and sage advice. He has served on more dissertation committees than anyone else in the English department.
• Doug is a beautiful prose stylist himself, so his writing advice to students is worth its weight in gold. He has been selfless in serving the department and university on promotion and tenure committees, search committees for new faculty and discipline appeals. His colleagues describe Doug as generous, compassionate, scholarly, relaxed, engaged, caring and possessing a keen sense of humor.
• Doug also spends time working with the Boulder community. He lectures on the role Christianity plays in medieval and contemporary literature. He has been working with elementary schools using a children’s book he co-authored, The Weighty Word Book, which makes learning a large and complex vocabulary fun for children.
• The CU Alumni Association is proud to present the Robert L. Stearns Award to Douglas A. Burger for his service and leadership.

• Patty is a model on the CU campus because of her efforts to research and teach outside the academic realm, and she relates to a wide range of constituencies. A colleague once said Patty’s greatest contribution to CU is as a “public intellectual.”
• This outstanding history professor came to CU Boulder from Harvard University in 1984. In addition to her teaching responsibilities she was named chair of the board and faculty director of the Center of the American West in 1995. She also is part of the environmental studies department.
• Patty nurtures a community where an admirably diverse group of students feel accepted and inspired, and the excitement and knowledge with which she teaches is not lost on anyone who takes or observes her classes. Outside of the classroom, she has fostered her humorously critical vision by playing “University Fool” on and off since 1987.
• Patty’s scholarly accomplishments are staggering. She has authored three books, including the highly acclaimed Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West, published in 1987. She is a sought after speaker and a prolific essayist. Many of her most notable articles, including “Dancing with Professors: The Trouble with Academic Prose,” were collected in 2000 under the title Something in the Soil. She received a prestigious MacArthur Fellow “genius” grant in 1995, and was awarded the Hazel Barnes prize, CU Boulder’s highest faculty prize for teaching and research.
• The CU Alumni Association is proud to present the Robert L. Stearns Award to Patricia N. Limerick for her commitment to making academic work relevant in the wider world.

• In the early 1980s, Brian, then at the NASA Ames Research Center, worked with a group of scientists including his former Ph.D. adviser, the late Carl Sagan, to show a full-scale nuclear war was not winnable because smoke from fires generated by burning cities would cause cooling and lead to what they termed a worldwide “nuclear winter.” This work was a factor in causing the decrease in nuclear weapons since the 1980s.
• Brian’s work also has provided insight into planetary atmospheres, atmospheric aerosols and the study of clouds, radiation and climate. His colleagues have remarked on his unselfish cooperation in sharing his knowledge and research and in mentoring anyone who seeks out his assistance. His numerous awards include the 2002 Highly Cited Researcher Award for being “one of the most highly cited, influential researchers in the geosciences” and recognition from the United Nations Environment Programme as one of the contributors to the 2007 Noble Peace Prize for the IPCC reports.
• Before coming to CU, Brian held several prestigious positions at NASA. But he chose to work at CU, in part, to provide leadership for the next generation of scholars interested in environmental issues. He is founding chair of the department of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, which previously existed only as a program.
• The CU Alumni Association is proud to present the Robert. L. Stearns Award to Owen “Brian” Toon for his significant contributions to research, education and public affairs.

• Barbara came to CU in 1984 as senior instructor and associate director of the William A. Wise Law Library at the CU School of Law. She became director of the law library and associate professor in 1989. She was appointed Nicholas Rosenbaum Professor of Law in 2002, where she was the first and, for several years, the only woman on the Boulder campus to hold an endowed chair.
• As law library director Barbara transformed the law library from a mom and pop operation to a 21st century library in the areas of technological access, physical facilities, and collection depth and service, all with a fraction of the budget of comparable academic law libraries.
• In the last few years she’s held other leadership roles at CU, including service as chair of the Boulder Faculty Assembly between 2003 and 2005, a period over- shadowed by an athletics scandal and the controversial Ward Churchill case.
• Barbara has shown an incisive eye for grasping the implications of important issues. She strategizes carefully and then moves quickly to make difficult situations an opportunity for faculty contribution rather than anger and despair.
• She also has served on the BFA Special Committee on Intercollegiate Athletic Reform from 2006 until the present and a committee to further the BFA’s proposal to mitigate alcohol abuse. The proposed reforms of the athletic committee were presented in a speedy fashion to the regents and became the basis for broad-ranging reforms at CU.
• The University is proud to present the Robert L. Stearns Award to Barbara A. Bintliff for her service, leadership and perseverance.

• While David was the associate dean for academic affairs from 1986 to 1992, he conceived of the Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory. This multidisciplinary laboratory, which opened in 1997, features team-based, interactive learning. It changed the face of engineering education at CU Boulder while providing a model for institutions nationwide. He also took a lead role in the Herbst Humanities Program, endowed by Clancy Herbst (ChemEngr’50, HonDocSci’95), after concluding that engineering students’ humanities education was unorganized and haphazard. In response, the Herbst program provides a broad education based on small‚Äìgroup discussions of classics and ethics.
• David was the early leader in engineering computing for the college. His pioneering “Introduction to Engineering Computing” course, as well as the instructional computing laboratories, are still mainstays of the program.
• Beyond engineering, David has been the faculty athletic representative since April 2005. He has been extremely dedicated in this role, whether attending a sporting event, being a member of countless athletic department committees or assisting in the recruitment and retention of student-athletes.
• David is an exemplary teacher who connects with students in and outside of the classroom and has a true and long lasting impact on them. One alumnus described his attention to what he called the life cycle of the student, featuring David’s interactive classes, after-class assistance, pregraduation career coaching and postgraduation monitoring.
• The University is proud to present the Robert L. Stearns Award to David E. Clough for his love of students and his commitment to CU.

• Marvin was awarded the prestigious National Medal of Science last year, the nation’s highest accolade for scientific achievement, which recognizes his lifetime accomplishments as a chemistry professor, researcher and biotechnology innovator.
• The rapid chemical synthesis of DNA and RNA is one of the cornerstone technologies that has fueled the development of biotechnology, basic research in biology and pharmacology worldwide. It is required for sequencing genomes, isolating genes that are pharmaceutically useful, diagnosing diseases using DNA chips and for forensic “finger printing.”
• In 1980 Marvin co-founded two major biotechnology companies based on his research: Applied Biosystems and Amgen. Amgen is credited with developing blockbuster medicines used widely to treat anemia and rheumatoid arthritis and for supportive care. He says he is very happy to be able to do basic research at CU that enables him to develop commercial products that save lives and improve our understanding of human biology.
• One of the lesser-known cornerstones of Marvin’s career at CU has been his considerable teaching contributions to the University, especially as a mentor to graduate students and postdoctoral associates. Several of his students have gone on to do leading-edge, award- winning research. To a person, they all regard Marvin as one of the key influences in their lives as a teacher and as a friend.
• The University is proud to present the Robert L. Stearns Award to Marvin H. Caruthers for his vision, curiosity and commitment.

• Dan came to CU in 1994 as director of LASP and professor of astrophysics and planetary science. Since his appointment LASP has flourished, growing from $10 million in sponsored research funding in 1997 to $49 million merely a decade later — a 316 percent increase. The number of professionals, as well as students, involved with LASP has nearly doubled as has national recognition of the organization.
• This positive growth has been due in great part to Dan’s ability to bring different organizations together. He has built research alliances with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, building relationships locally that benefit the community nationally.
• He has served on a multitude of committees for CU. He serves on the Graduate School Institute Directors Committee and the Research Cabinet for the Vice Chancellor of Research. He was involved in Vision 2010: University without Walls, the Chancellor’s Federal Relations Advisory Committee and the Aerospace Engineering Advising Committee.
• Dan chaired CU’s Research and Creative Works Task Force in 2000 and more recently was chair of the National Academy of Sciences Solar and Space Physics Committee. He is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and has served as president of its Space Physics and Aeronomy Section. These examples are a small representation of his vast service inside and outside of the University.
• Yet Dan makes time for students. He has been the principal advisor for eight graduate students and has served on the dissertation committees of another eight. Many of his students have gone on to win awards.
• He has also been very involved with hands-on student flight programs such as the Student Nitric Oxide Explorer, which orbited Earth for five years, and the Student Dust Counter, now passing Jupiter on its way to Pluto. Dan has also served as principal investigator for 39 programs at LASP, earning the laboratory a total of $8.7 million in research funding.
• “Dan is perhaps the most highly respected scientist in his field,” according to Cal-Berkeley physicist Robert Lin. “Dan’s record of service to the space community is, to my knowledge, unmatched.”
• The University is proud to present the Robert L. Stearns Award to Daniel N. Baker for his endless service in all the facets of service, research and education.

• Polly received her doctorate from the University of Texas in 1984 in media studies with an emphasis on international development. She came to CU the same year as an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Since then, she has built a reputation as the “go-to” professor for any student in need of assistance and inspiration.
• “I always knew when Polly was coming because I would hear chatter and laughter well in advance,” says Joanne Arnold, professor emeritus of journalism. “Sure enough, soon I’d see Polly with a troop of students following behind her — a modern day Pied Piper.”
• Polly has been an associate professor of journalism since 1994. In 2004 she was appointed as director of the Women and Gender Studies Program because it was struggling. She has successfully turned the program around, despite any possible harm to of her career path in the School of Journalism. Her selfless availability to the University and its students puts her where she’s most needed.
• Her teaching often begins in the classroom and then extends itself into the world in inspirational ways. In 2002, what began as a women’s studies class project involving student interviews with African American women of Boulder, evolved into a 177-page book — A Legacy of Missing Pieces: The Voices of Black Women of Boulder County — written by students and edited and grant-funded by Polly.
• She has been a visiting professor at the University of Zambia, the University of Namibia and at Howard University in Washington, D.C. She has worked for international organizations such as UNICEF, USAID and UNESCO. Locally, she has been involved with the Rocky Mountain Peace Center, the Boulder Valley School District and the Boulder County AIDS Project, among many others. Her priorities, however, remain with students.
• “She reaches out, especially to those who are marginalized or otherwise struggling, and encourages us, challenges us and ultimately, supports us,” says Michelle Miles, a graduate student who will be the first African American student to receive a doctorate in journalism at CU.
• The University is honored to present Polly McLean with the Robert L. Stearns Award for her extraordinary involvement at CU, in the community and with the lives of its students.

• Uriel has supervised eight doctoral students in their graduate work. He has acted as advisor and mentor for over 30 undergraduates in CU’s Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program. He has been named Outstanding Physics Teacher by the Sigma Pi Sigma Physics Students Society three times. He is known for his organized lectures and his ability to clearly present very complex material to students.
• As an experimental high energy particle physicist, Uriel performs work at particle accelerators worldwide. He is the author of over 300 journal articles and has given over 50 invited lectures nationwide. Uriel is the founder of CU’s Modern High Energy Group and was a developer of the Rocky Mountain Consortium for High Energy Physics.
• As Dean of CU’s College of Arts and Sciences Todd Gleeson says, “Uriel is a high energy physicist, in both interpretations of that phrase.” Even with his outstanding work in teaching and physics, Uriel still has an extremely high amount of energy to dedicate to other areas of the University in need of assistance.
• Uriel has been involved with the Boulder Faculty Assembly since 1996. He chaired the BFA Budget and Planning Committee in 1999. He streamlined the accounting system regarding federal grant funding overdue charges and saved researchers hundreds of thousands in research funding. He chaired the BFA for two terms in 2001 and 2002 and was instrumental in advancing ideas of shared governance between the faculty and administration on campus. He co-chaired the University System Budget Planning Committee from 2000 to 2001.
• “Occasionally, or perhaps too often, faculty view their plight as a disadvantaged, adversarial relationship with the administration,” says Jeffry Mitton of CU’s Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department. “Uriel has always examined the situation for himself and made his own determination. His has been a stern voice of moderation, often providing a bridge of civil discourse between faculty and administration.”
• According to Albert Bartlett, professor emeritus of physics, “Uriel’s pursuit of excellence in everything he does inspires his classroom students, his research students, his associates and his faculty colleagues to increase their own commitment to excellence.”
• The University is proud to honor Uriel Nauenberg for his nearly four decades of leadership in research, teaching and in the development of educational policy.

• 2006: Michael D. Breed
• 2006: Jeffrey S. Lipton (MBA’75, MFin’79)
• 2006: David O. Norris
• 2006: Richard L. Wobbekind (MEcon’79, PhD’84)
   
• 2005: Cathy Comstock (MCompLit’75, PhD’81)
• 2005: Dale Mood
• 2005: Gary J. Rottman
   
• 2004: Richard J. Castro (MPE’73)
• 2004: Robert Spillman
• 2004: Ronald Stump
   
• 2003: Ceal Barry
• 2003: Robert A. Pois
• 2003: Robert E. Sievers
   
• 2002: Alphonse Keasley Jr. (PhDSpch’01)
• 2002: Laurence D. Nelson (Acct’69)
• 2002: William Wei
   
• 2001: Jean E. Delaney (Hist’70, MA’72)
• 2001: Dennis C. Jackson
• 2001: Richard Jessor
   
• 2000: John Cooper
• 2000: Robert L. Hohlfelder
• 2000: Kevin J. McCarthy

• 1999: Susan K. Avery
• 1999: Larry D. Singell
   
• 1998: Judson G. Hurd
• 1998: James W. Palmer
   
• 1997: John J. DeBell (Psych’83)
• 1997: William R. Deno (Arch’72, MS’73)
   
• 1996: Kris C. McCandless (Soc’72, MPubAf’78)
• 1996: Charles R. Middleton
• 1996: James E. Schafer (Bus’67, MBA’71)
   
• 1995: Bruce R. Ekstrand
• 1995: Marjorie Keniston McIntosh
   
• 1994: James N. Corbridge Jr.
• 1994: Evelyn M. Krohn (MedTech’45)
   
• 1993: Robert R. Fink
• 1993: Lanny Pinchuk
   
• 1992: Charles N. Fasanero
• 1992: Gladeane Goode Lefferdink (Mus’57)
• 1992: Patricia H. Magette
   
• 1991: John G. “Pete” Copeland
• 1991: Ronald A. James (A&S’59, MJour’67)
• 1990: Gordon Johnson (MBA’82)

• 1989: Emily M. Calhoun
• 1989: F. Wayne Scott
• 1989: John R. Taylor
• 1989: Shirley Youngren
   
• 1988: John R. Carnes
• 1988: Ward Churchill
• 1988: J. Beverly Hathaway
• 1988: Kaye Howe
• 1988: Richard K. Knaub
• 1988: Eugene H. Smith
   
• 1987: Peter J. Barden (MBA’70)
• 1987: Vincent W. Beach
• 1987: Julius London
• 1987: Edward W. Murrow (Acct’59)
   
• 1986: David Breternitz
• 1986: Homer Clark
• 1986: Jenny Kate Collins
• 1986: George Maler (ElecEngr’45, MS’56)
• 1986: Charles Nilon
• 1986: N. Mildred Nilon
• 1986: William Weber
   
• 1985: Wendell Burchett
• 1985: Lillian Pohorilak
• 1985: Kenneth A. Reed (MBA’49)
• 1985: Aladeen Smith
   
• 1984: C.F. Alan Cass (A&S’63)
• 1984: Jackson F. Fuller (ElecEngr’44)
• 1984: C. Dean Graves (PE’51, MPubAd’56)
• 1984: David Hawkins
• 1984: Neil Hartley Sadler
• 1984: Theo. Volsky Jr.
   
• 1983: Charles A. Byers (MMus’52)
• 1983: Helen B. Duhon (Jour’38)
• 1983: J.K. Emery (Jour’48)
• 1983: Richard L. Harpel (MPubSer’63, EdD’70)
• 1983: Wallace Leiper
• 1983: David A. Lind
• 1983: Wyn Owen
   
• 1982: Robert Athearn
• 1982: Clifford Calhoun
• 1982: Rosetta H. Clark
• 1982: John W. Marr
• 1982: David Prescott
• 1982: Robert B. Rhode
• 1982: Joe Ben Wheat
   
• 1981: Wilmar F. Bernthal
• 1981: Frank Prentup
• 1981: Jeannette Royer
• 1981: Hobart Smith
• 1981: Klaus Timmerhaus
• 1981: Harold Walton
   
• 1980: H.H. “Bud” Arnold (Econ’52, Law’55)
• 1980: Joanne Easley Arnold (A&S’52, MJour’65, PhD’71)
• 1980: Frank S. Barnes
• 1980: William E. Briggs (MMath’49, PhD’53)
• 1980: M. John Loeffler (A&S’46, MGeog’48)
• 1980: Olwen O. William (A&S’51)
• 1980: C. Marie Wood

• 1979: Peter Albersheim
• 1979: Charles A. Barth
• 1979: D. Wilson Crumpacker
• 1979: Courtland H. Peterson (A&S’51, Law’53)
• 1979: Dan Stavely
   
• 1978: C. Michael Baier (Acct’42, MBA’63)
• 1978: Cal A. Briggs
• 1978: Fred Casotti (Jour’49)
• 1978: Ivar Pearson
• 1978: Max S. Peters
• 1978: Ruth Purkaple
• 1978: E. James Quigley (MPubSer’57)
• 1978: Leo C. Reithmayer
   
• 1977: Edwin P. Banks (MPolSci’52)
• 1977: DeVon M. Carlson (ArchEngr’47)
• 1977: Berton Coffin
• 1977: Mildred Coffin
• 1977: Virginia A. Fassler
• 1977: John E. Moreland (Bus’43, MFin’55)
• 1977: Robert S. Wasley (MAcct’41)
   
• 1976: F. Kendrick Bangs (MPubSer’46)
• 1976: Eloise V. Braidwood
• 1976: Roderick L. Downing (CivEngr’14)
• 1976: Mabel M. Irwin
• 1976: Benjamin H. Spurlock (MMechEngr’50)
• 1976: Thomas E. Starzl
   
• 1975: Roland E. “Doc” Balch
• 1975: Willa E. Green
• 1975: Barbara Schindler Jones (MComm’59, PhD’68)
• 1975: Gordon Meiklejohn
• 1975: Omer C. Stewart
• 1975: Howard B. Waltz
   
• 1974: Albert A. Bartlett
• 1974: William H. Baughn
• 1974: Bertha Black
• 1974: Donald E. Carline
• 1974: A. Dwight Grotewold (MPubSer’64)
• 1974: George S. Lesser (Bus’33)
• 1974: Reuben Zubrow
   
• 1973: Willard B. Cook (Bus’33, MBA’51)
• 1973: Harold C. Heim (Phar’32)
• 1973: Howard H. Higman (Art’37, SocSci’42)
• 1973: Charlotte York Irey (MThtr’65)
• 1973: Pauline A. Parish
• 1973: Keith R. Porter
   
• 1972: Peggy Tague Earnest
• 1972: John N. Hough
• 1972: Calvin Grieder
   
• 1971: Gordon H. Barker
• 1971: Stanley J. Cristol
• 1971: Thorrel B. Fest
• 1971: Burton W. Jones
• 1971: Tim K. Kelley
• 1971: William B. Markward
   
• 1970: Sam J. Akins
• 1970: Alice Clyncke
• 1970: John J. Conger
• 1970: Lawrence D. Coolidge
• 1970: Stephen A. Romine (MEdu’40, EdD’47)
• 1970: Homer P. Rainey

• 1969: Charles L. Evans
• 1969: Dorothy L. Greenman (Edu’32)
• 1969: Otis Lipstreau
• 1969: Hugh McMillan
• 1969: Karl H. Stahl
   
• 1968: C. Henry Kempe
• 1968: Evelyn M. Mitchell (A&S’28)
• 1968: Jack D. Ogilvy (A&S ex’25)
• 1968: A. Gayle Waldrop
• 1968: Norman F. Witt (MChem’28, PhD’37)
   
• 1967: Norma Mitchell
• 1967: Margaret Robb
• 1967: Don W. Sears
• 1967: Russell “Sox” Walseth (PE’48, MEdu’53)
   
• 1966: John W. Bartram (Chem’41)
• 1966: Joseph W. Cohen
• 1966: Austin W. Scott Jr.
• 1966: Muriel Sibell Wolle (MA’30)
   
• 1965: M. Helen Carpenter (Engl ex’22)
• 1965: Roland C. Rautenstraus (CivEngr’46, MS’49)
• 1965: Martin F. Schmidt (Bus’34, MBA’34)
• 1965: Eugene Wilson
   
• 1964: James W. Broxon
• 1964: Clifford Houston (A&S’27, MEdu’28, EdD’33)
• 1964: Warner L. Imig (MMus’42)
• 1964: Aubrey J. Kempner
• 1964: S. Harrison Thomson
   
• 1963: Frank Eastom (ElecEngr’21)
• 1963: John R. Little (EdD’48)
• 1963: Louise McAllister (Bus’37)
• 1963: Lawrence A. Warner
   
• 1962: Leo V. Aspinwall (MBA’32)
• 1962: D. Mack Easton
• 1962: Dorothy R. Martin (Psych’34, MA’36, PhD’47)
   
• 1961: W. Otto Birk
• 1961: Harold A. Hoffmeister (A&S’25)
• 1961: Charles G. Vavra (A&S’25)
   
• 1960: Mary Ethel Ball (A&S’14)
• 1960: W. Stuart Cuthbertson (MA’24)
• 1960: Frederic P. Storke (Law’17)
• 1960: Warren O. Thompson (A&S’22)

• 1959: Charles A. Hutchinson (A&S’22)
• 1959: Edward C. King
• 1959: Henrietta A. Loughran
• 1959: Theordore T. Puck
   
• 1958: W.F. Dyde
• 1958: Clarence L. Eckel (CivEngr’13, MS’21)
• 1958: Jacob Van Ek
   
• 1957: Earl C. Crockett
• 1957: William B. Draper
• 1957: Claribel Kendall (A&S’12)
• 1957: Walter Orr Roberts
   
• 1956: Waldo E. Brockway (CivEngr’17)
• 1956: Elizabeth Fay Selleck (A&S’14)
• 1956: Clare Hebard Small
• 1956: Frank C. Potts
   
• 1955: Bly Ewalt Curtis (A&S’39)
• 1955: Ruth T. Colestock (Nurs’20)
• 1955: Walter B. Franklin (A&S’22, Law’25)
   
• 1954: Benjamin S. Galland (Law’19)
• 1954: Francis Wolle (MA’16)
   
• 1953: Harry G. Carlson
• 1953: Colin B. Goodykoontz