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Celebrate Colorado State!
2007-2008 Awards Luncheon Honorees

Updated April 2008 - Celebrate Home

Darrell Fontane, Engineering
Board of Governors Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award

The Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System has honored Darrell Fontane, longtime civil engineering professor, with its Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award.

Faculty member students admire and want to emulate

Fontane's name is frequently on a short list of faculty members who students most want to emulate, according to the nomination by Luis Garcia, chairman of the civil engineering department.

"The Board of Governors is honored to give this award to Professor Fontane for his efforts to motivate and challenge students," said Douglas L. Jones, board chairman. "Excellence in teaching stimulates the curiosity of students and develops the kind of critical thinkers that the workforce needs today."

Dedicated to helping students achieve high standards

"With extraordinary dedication and skill across teaching's many dimensions and venues, Dr. Fontane is a scholar in the area of engineering education," said Dean Sandra Woods. "But his interaction with students is perhaps his biggest strength as a teacher. He sets high standards for student achievement and then does everything he possibly can to help students achieve those standards."

One student noted, "I always felt he cared for his students and was more than willing to help them out in and out of the classroom. Dr. Fontane was extremely knowledgeable about the subjects that he taught and was able to teach them effectively while keeping students engaged in the material. He always treated students with the utmost respect."

International expert on integrated water quantity and quality management

Fontane joined Colorado State University as an assistant professor in 1983. He currently serves as director of the International School for Water Resources and concentrates his research on water resources decision support systems, computer-aided water management and integrated water quantity and quality management. As director of the International School for Water Resources, he is responsible for organizing and administering special, non-degree training for international engineers in various aspects of water resources engineering. He has personally conducted water resources training in eight countries.

Fontane has served as a visiting associate professor at the Center for Water Resources and Quality Management in Korea, a visiting professor at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil and a visiting research engineer at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station. He has worked as a consultant around the world for such organizations as the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development; the Water Resources Systems Management and the Train-the-Trainers Project, India; and the Graduate Education in Water Resources Management in Tunisia. Prior to coming to Colorado State University, he served as supervisory research hydraulic engineer, acting chief of the Reservoir Water Quality Branch of the Hydraulics Laboratory, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, Miss.

Paul Kennedy, Mathematics
University Distinguished Teaching Scholar

A professor known for his innovative teaching and research at Colorado State University has been selected as a University Distinguished Teaching Scholar, an honor conferred upon a total of 12 outstanding faculty.

The new distinguished scholar, Paul Kennedy in the Department of Mathematics, was recognized at the annual Celebrate Colorado State! Luncheon.

Outstanding work to reduce achievement gap

"Professor Kennedy's notable career in mathematics here at Colorado State University – and his outstanding work with the National Science Foundation to reduce the achievement gap in mathematics and science – have been a great benefit to students at CSU and across the nation," said President Larry Edward Penley. "His work to improve mathematics education for students of all levels is a prime example of Colorado State's commitment to improving science and mathematics curricula and demonstrates the university's capacity for continued leadership in this area."

Innovations in the classroom

"Paul's innovations in the classroom exemplify faculty work at Colorado State," said Tony Frank, provost and senior vice president. "Paul is well deserving of this top award because of his dedication to our students and their learning experiences through mastery learning principles and online and classroom instruction."

The designation as a University Distinguished Teaching Scholar remains with the recipient until he or she leaves the university. The scholars were chosen in an open process that began with the selection of nominees by departments throughout campus.

Permanent base salary increase and annual operating account

All Scholars receive a permanent base salary increment of $7,500 and an annual $2,500 operating account from their home colleges for three years to pursue an instructional improvement/innovation project.

Current University Distinguished Teaching Scholars are Pattie Cowell, Kate Kiefer and Mike Palmquist, Department of English; Ken Barbarick, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences; Ingrid Burke, Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship; Rich Feller, School of Education; Nancy E. Levinger and Stephen Thompson, Department of Chemistry; Ray Whalen, Department of Biomedical Sciences; and Douglas Hoffman, Department of Marketing. Retiring are James Boyd, Department of Philosophy; and Wayne Viney, Department of Psychology.

Kennedy's career spans 33 years

Paul Kennedy is professor in the Department of Mathematics at Colorado State University. His career in the teaching and learning of mathematics spans 33 years including 10 years as a secondary mathematics teacher and 23 years as a university mathematics educator. Along with his work at CSU, he has been a member of the graduate faculty in the University of Notre Dame’s summer graduate teacher education program, Alliance for Catholic Education, since 2001.

Since joining CSU in 2002, Kennedy effectively transformed the pre-calculus program into a state-of-the-art online instructional/assessment environment. The instructional approach in the new PACe (Paced Algebra to Calculus electronically) center is based on mastery learning principles and offers both online and classroom instruction. Kennedy is continuing with the construction of an innovative white board environment for online teaching, tutoring and collaborative learning. For his efforts, he received Colorado State’s 2007 CNS Award for Excellence in Teaching Innovation.

Nationally recognized expert on teaching and learning of mathematics

Kennedy is also co-principle investigator of the National Science Foundation Center for Learning and Teaching in the West at CSU, a five institution collaborative focused on reducing the achievement gap in mathematics and science. Through CLTWest, CSU has partnered with Montana State, Montana, Portland State and UNC to conduct research through a collaborative online doctoral program that includes an online concentration in mathematics and science education. CLTWest is also dedicated to offer ongoing professional development to teachers across the various regions. As part of that effort, Kennedy has directed four consecutive summer institutes for secondary mathematics teachers from across the state.

In the area of scholarship, Kennedy has directed over 15 funded projects and published widely in the area of the teaching and learning of mathematics. His research focus has been on mathematics achievement and on the use of technology in the teaching of mathematics. He has been a national author for HOLT Secondary Mathematics since 1990, having coauthored 12 textbooks. As a result of his work with HOLT, Kennedy gives numerous addresses to large groups of teachers across the country about the effective strategies for enhancing the learning of all students.

Dr. Mo Salman, Clinical Sciences
Scholarship Impact Award

Dr. Mo Salman, a veterinarian known for his work bringing international countries together to focus on animal health, has been named this year’s recipient of the Scholarship Impact Award, one of the highest annual honors given by Colorado State University.

Tackles animal health issues across the globe

Salman, professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences in the university's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, addresses animal health issues that can impact economic and human health across the globe.

Salman was honored with his award at the Celebrate Colorado State! Luncheon on April 29. The award, given by Colorado State's Office of the Vice President for Research, includes $10,000 to support Salman's research.

Boosting health of humans, animals and societies

Salman has been instrumental in building national animal health program infrastructure in countries that have recently won independence or been involved in a period of war such as Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Dr. Salman's work truly embodies the mission of a great research and outreach university," said Bill Farland, vice president for Research at Colorado State. "His efforts to better society and the world through education and collaboration have indeed had a positive impact on reducing hardship around the world and in boosting the health of human, animals and societies around the globe."

"Dr. Salman's work is comprised of an internationally recognized record of unique, original research and the ability to bring people together to rebuild or strengthen infrastructures to the benefit of entire countries. He has established an international network of collaborations that have identified Colorado State University as a world leader in this field," said Dr. Paul Lunn, chairman of the Department of Clinical Sciences, in his nomination of Salman for the award. "In addition, he is an excellent educator of the university's students as well as of veterinarians and other works in the veterinary and human health fields around the world."

Unique, original research

Today a U.S. citizen, Salman was born in Baghdad, Iraq, where he received his veterinary degree in 1973. He moved to the United States in 1978 and has been a professor at Colorado State since 1984, following teaching and research engagements at the University of California-Davis.

In 2002, Salman helped establish the Animal Population Health Institute at Colorado State. The institute is devoted to addressing animal health around the globe on the principle that protecting animal health can help countries maintain or obtain economic stability, protect an important resource and help to protect the health and stability of citizens within those countries. Salman’s work often focuses on helping countries identify and combat zoonotic diseases, or diseases that can spread from animals to humans, such as bird flu.

Salman also has played a significant role as a representative on international panels focused on world health, helping the United States government address animal health.

Salman’s numerous recognitions to date include a Fulbright Scholarship in 1991, the American Humane Association's Waco F. Childers award in 1998, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Administrative Award for Animal Health in 2007 and the American Veterinary Medical Association's Twelfth International Veterinary Congress Award in 2007.