Arts and Architecture recognizes faculty, staff

Arts and Architecture recognizes faculty, staff

The College of Arts and Architecture honored several faculty and staff during a recent awards ceremony. The honorees are:

-- James Haywood Rolling Jr., assistant professor of art education, has received the 2006 Roy C. Buck Award for his article, "Messing Around with Identity Constructs: Pursuing a Poststructural and Poetic Aesthetic." It was published in the scholarly journal, Qualitative Inquiry. The award, established by Roy C. Buck, a Penn State alumnus, honors a tenure-stream faculty member in the College of Arts and Architecture for the best refereed article in a scholarly journal. Rolling, who joined the Penn State School of Visual Arts faculty this past fall, earned his doctoral degree and master's degree in art education at Teachers College, his master of fine arts in studio research at Syracuse University and his bachelor of fine arts at The Cooper Union School of Art. He has published articles, essays and book reviews in peer-reviewed journals such as Studies in Art Education, the Journal of Aesthetic Education and the Journal of Curriculum Studies, and serves on the review panel of Art Education, the journal of the National Art Education Association. His research involves interrogations of the certainties and norms of modernity, examining the archaeologies underlying the (re) constitution of individual and social identities as they are ensconced in Western visual culture.

-- Helen O'Leary, associate professor of art, has received a 2006 Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching for empowering her students to think critically about the world and to engage fearlessly with ideas and cultural issues. A prolific international artist, O'Leary is credited with bringing to her classes an understanding about the public intellectual life of visual artists, especially in the way that their works respond critically to contemporary cultural issues and concerns. O'Leary earned her master of fine arts and bachelor of fine arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine and the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, Ireland. She has been the recipient of numerous International awards. O'Leary was instrumental in the development of a popular study abroad program at Penn State, "Writing and Painting the Irish Landscape," which has been in existence for seven years. Her use of personal contacts in her homeland and deep knowledge of the Irish culture, history and political environment have helped make this program successful.

-- James Lyon, professor of music (violin), has received a 2006 Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching. Lyon has been on the string faculty since 1991 and has been recognized by the Pennsylvania-Delaware String Teachers' Association as Outstanding String Teacher for his effectiveness and dedication to teaching. Before coming to Penn State, Lyon was a professional orchestral performer and chamber musician. Educated at the North Carolina School of the Arts, the Eastman School of Music, West Texas State University and the Yale Summer School of Music, Lyon has studied with many top musicians, including Charles Cattleman and Elaine Richey, as well as members of the Cleveland, Tokyo and Fine Arts Quartets. He has performed as a member of the Louisville Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, and has served as concertmaster of the symphony orchestras of Amarillo, Texas, and Altoona. He currently is concertmaster of the Pennsylvania Centre Chamber Orchestra, with whom he is a frequent soloist. An active chamber musician, he has performed internationally with the Castalia Trio, Duo Concertant and the Lyon Family Chamber Ensemble.

-- Richard Nichols, professor of theatre, has received a 2006 Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching for his accomplishments in the classroom, on stage and in an international field of research and publication. Nichols, who received his doctoral degree at the University of Washington, has a national reputation as a master teacher of both acting and stage movement. He is a widely known instructor of the Alexander Technique, which aligns the body and physically centers the actor in preparation for taking on the life of the scripted character. His international reputation also continues to expand as a scholar of modern Korean theatre. As a Fulbright scholar in South Korea, Nichols was recognized for his teaching at Sungkyunkwan University and the Korean University of the Arts.

-- James Thurman, assistant director of the Penn State School of Visual Arts and assistant professor of art, has received the 2006 Award for Excellence in Academic Advising. Since 2002, Thurman has been the coordinator of the Schreyer Honors program for the School of Visual Arts, a responsibility that requires handling all honors-related activities and advising for an average of 25 to 30 honors art students. In addition to his committed work to current students in the honors program, Thurman is integral to the process of acquainting new and prospective students to Penn State's School of Visual Arts. Thurman earned his master of fine arts in metalsmithing at Cranbrook Academy of Art and his bachelor of fine arts in sculpture at Carnegie Mellon University. His current body of work explores the development of objects through the intersection of concept, material and process. Many of the artworks take form as containers or vessels as a metaphoric foundation and entry point for viewers. The inspiration of the work is strongly affected by critical issues within his community and locale as they relate to larger global concerns, particularly related to the environment.-- Jane Brown, assistant to the financial officer, has received a 2006 Staff Award for Outstanding Service. Brown was recognized for her unflagging integrity, commitment to customer service and skill in dealing with sensitive budget issues. Brown earned an associate's degree in business administration at Penn State. Beyond her duties in the financial office, Brown is involved in college-wide activities and has served on college committees. She also is a community and environmentally minded person and participates in several activities that support those interests.

-- Sue Carson, graduate staff assistant in the School of Theatre, has received a 2006 Staff Award for Outstanding Service. She was recognized for her unparalleled positive attitude about her work and her outstanding commitment to the faculty, staff and students in the School of Theatre. Carson earned her bachelor of arts in general arts and sciences at Penn State and worked in the College of Education and School of Music before assuming her current position in 1984.