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Ten Graduate Students Honored with K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Awards

Students Recognized for Commitment to Academic and Civic Responsibility and Promise as Future Leaders of Higher Education

Washington, DC—January 5, 2009 – The Association of American Colleges and Universities announced today the 2009 recipients of the annual K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Awards. These awards recognize graduate students who are committed to developing academic and civic responsibility in themselves and others, and who show exemplary promise as future leaders of higher education.

The 2009 recipients are:

Holly Bruland, English, University of Hawai'i at Manoa
Cara Gormally, Plant Biology, University of Georgia
Mitchel T. Keller, Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology
Tessa Lowinske Desmond, Literary Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Tamara Mann, History, Columbia University
Elizabeth Munz, Communication, Purdue University
Geoff Preidis, Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine
Marcella Runell-Hall, Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Lisa Thornhill, Language and Rhetoric, University of Washington, Seattle
Kyle Whyte, Philosophy and American Indian Studies, Stony Brook University

These individuals were chosen from a pool of more than 200 nominations through a rigorous application process through which they demonstrated their leadership ability or potential for exercising leadership in teaching and learning, and their strong commitment to academic and civic responsibility.

“This is another stellar year for the future of faculty leadership,” said K. Patricia Cross. “Of more than 200 doctoral students nominated by 120 research universities across a wide range of academic disciplines, the ten award recipients include an impressive number of Outstanding Teaching Awards, a wide variety of experiences serving local and worldwide communities, and a demonstrated concern for the development of others.It is heartwarming to see these impressive and dedicated teachers join the faculties of our colleges and universities, and we are so pleased to provide both praise and publicity for their extraordinary contributions.”

“The ten scholars selected for the K. Patricia Cross Award are diverse in disciplines, personal backgrounds, and academic goals, but all share a passionate commitment to effective teaching and learning as a part of their ongoing scholarship,” said L. Lee Knefelkamp, AAC&U Senior Scholar and a member of the award selection committee. “Every year the selection committee comments on how difficult it is to select only ten from the hundreds of nominees,” she noted. “This year was no different, and we are extraordinarily proud of our choices.”

Each recipient of this award will attend the annual meeting of AAC&U, “Ready or Not -  Global Challenges, College Learning, and America’s Promise” from January 21-24, 2009, where they will be honored at the Opening Plenary. They will also be presenters in the session, “Faculty of the Future: Voices from the Next Generation – A Conversation with the K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders.” The Cross awardees will participate in other sessions and meetings throughout the conference.

AAC&U is the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education. Its members are committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises more than 1,150 accredited public and private colleges and universities of every type and size.

AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators, and faculty members who are engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Its mission is to reinforce the collective commitment to liberal education at both the national and local levels and to help individual institutions keep the quality of student learning at the core of their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges.