Central College Faculty Receives Recognition

by Central College

Pella, IA (05/28/2020) — Five Central College faculty members received awards this spring during a special remote conferencing celebration for their outstanding leadership in teaching, service and scholarship :

• Andrew Green, professor of political science, (B.A., Wartburg College; M.A., Ph.D., University of California - Riverside) received the Dr. John Wesselink Award for scholarship with a direct impact on teaching.
• Susan Swanson, associate professor of art, (B.S., Arizona State University; M.A., Ph.D., University of Minnesota - Twin Cities) received the David Crichton Memorial Teaching Award for excellence in teaching which challenges and shapes the intellectual development in students.
• Paulina Mena, associate professor of biology, (B.S., Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Chile; Ph.D., University of Iowa) received the Frank W. Moore Faculty Award for promoting student learning in the natural sciences.
• Maggie Fisher Schlerman, associate professor of accounting, (B.A., Central College; M.A., Iowa State University) received the Huffman Award for Outstanding Support of International Education. This award recognizes the contributions made by Donald and Maxine Huffman to Central's programs in international education.
• Lori Witt, associate professor of history, (B.A., Trinity College; M.A., Ph.D., Loyola University Chicago) received the Hutch Bearce Community-Building and Faculty Leadership Award for community building and mentorship or leadership.

Another faculty member was recognized for his 40 years of service to the college. David Timmer, Dr. Jacob and Gela Schnucker Sessler Chair in Philosophy and Religion and professor of religion, (B.A. Calvin College; Ph.D., University of Notre Dame) retired at the end of the 2019-2020 academic year. He has taught at Central since 1980. Timmer has published articles on medieval Jewish-Christian relations, Franciscan missionaries in colonial Mexico and Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life and thought. He also has served on the Commission on Theology of the Reformed Church in America.

An additional faculty member was honored for 25 years of service. Sam Mate-Kodjo, associate professor of Spanish, (B.A., The University of Ghana Legon; M.A., Universidad Complutense de Madrid; Ph.D., The Ohio State University). Mate-Kodjo joined Central in 1995 and helped pioneer language teaching at the college.