Two professors, two staff members, and the Center for the Mathematics Education of Latino/as have been selected as winners of the 2007 Chancellor's Achievement Awards for Diversity.
The awards recognize campus faculty, staff, and programs that have made outstanding contributions in furthering diversity at UCSC. Winners will be honored at a luncheon June 13.
Julio Cardona was chosen for going above and beyond his job description as director of graduate recruitment and retention. Lisa Sloan, vice provost and dean of graduate education, nominated Cardona, saying he has "implemented a vast series of programs and initiatives that both recruit and help to retain graduate students, particularly underrepresented minority graduate students."
Minh Tran's work at Cowell College, where he is coordinator for residential education, was noted as transforming the "community into a more inclusive one that supports honest engagement of diversity issues." He was nominated by Mandie Stout, of the Cowell Residential Life Office.
Gina Dent, associate professor of feminist studies, was nominated separately by Michelle Handy, director of Educational Opportunity Programs, and Humanities Dean Georges Van Den Abbeele. Dent was cited for leading the Committee on Affirmative Action and Diversity and its "unprecedented effort to study the diversity climate on campus." Dent's "scholarship, teaching, and service activities all promote diversity and equal opportunity in significant and often dramatic ways for the campus, UC system, community, and society at large," Van Den Abbeele wrote.
Russll Flegal, nominated by Stephen Thorsett, dean of physical and biological sciences, was chosen for his work in helping retain underrepresented students in the sciences. Flegal, professor of environmental toxicology, has been director since 1997 of the California Alliance for Minority Participation, which seeks to help undergraduates complete their degrees in the biological and physical sciences, mathematics, and engineering.
In the program category, the Center for the Mathematics Education of Latinos/as and principal investigators Judit Moschkovich and Kip Tellez, both associate professors of education, were cited for "making a concerted effort to recruit and retain team members whose life histories and expertise both serve and reflect the mission of the research center." The center was nominated by Rodney Ogawa, chair of the Department of Education.
The Chancellor's Achievement Awards for Diversity are sponsored by the Chancellor's Office, EEO/Affirmative Action, Academic Human Resources, and Staff Human Resources.
