For Immediate Release : May 7, 2005
UMW AWARDS TOP HONORS AT COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY
Fredericksburg, Va. – The top University of Mary Washington undergraduate student and four faculty members received honors from the university during commencement ceremonies Saturday, May 7.
Robyn Leanne Fielder of Roanoke, Va., received the “Colgate W. Darden, Jr. Award,” which is presented annually to the student with the highest grade-point average in the four-year undergraduate program.
David J. Long, professor of music, was presented the “Grellet C. Simpson Award,” which is given each year as the institution’s most prestigious award for excellence in undergraduate teaching. The recipient is usually a senior member of the faculty.
Miriam N. Liss, assistant professor of psychology, received the “UMW Alumni Association Outstanding Young Faculty Member Award,” which is presented annually to an exceptional member of the faculty who has served the institution for at least two years, but no more than five years.
William B. Crawley, Jr., distinguished professor of history, was awarded the “Mary W. Pinschmidt Award.” The recipient of the award is selected by the graduating class as the faculty member “whom they will most likely remember as the one who had the greatest impact on their lives.”
Alan G. Heffner, professor of leadership and management and director of the MBA Program, received the “College of Graduate and Professional Studies Outstanding Faculty Member Award,” which is presented annually to recognize an exceptional full-time faculty member who demonstrates excellence in teaching and professional leadership and who has taught at the Stafford campus for at least two years.
Robyn Leanne Fielder
A psychology major, Ms. Fielder has been inducted into Phi Beta Kappa; Mortar Board Senior Honor Society; the National Society of Collegiate Scholars; Pi Gamma Mu, a national social science honorary; and Psi Chi, a national honor society in psychology. She also won a 2004 Uzi Zeizer Award for the Best Undergraduate Paper in an Applied Area of Psychology from the Virginia Applied Psychology Academy for a paper she co-wrote, titled “Is It Worth It, Should I Work It? The Effects of a Regular Exercise Program on Self-Presentation Strategies.”
In the summer of 2003, she studied in Spain at the University of Salamanca with a scholarship from the American Institute of Foreign Study. Other scholarships she received include the J. Christopher Bill Scholarship in Psychology, the Warren W. Hobbie Endowed Alumni Scholarship, the Hai Hung Foundation Scholarship, the Dorothy J. Hall Scholarship and the C. Jarret & Hazel Small Wilkins Scholarship in Social Sciences.
Along with her job as a student manager at the university bookstore, Ms. Fielder was a Community Outreach and Resources volunteer and a council coordinator of English as a Second Language volunteers. She has been involved with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and the Campus Christian Community. She was named to the President’s List (all A’s) six times and the Dean’s List twice. As a result of two A- grades, Ms. Fielder’s cumulative grade-point average is 3.984.
David J. Long
Dr. Long has been a member of the music faculty at the University of Mary Washington since 1980. He currently is Professor of Music and Composer-in-Residence and holds a doctorate in musical arts composition and a master’s degree in music composition from the University of North Texas, as well as a bachelor’s degree in music theory and composition from Arizona State University. He also is a free lance timpanist/percussionist, jazz/pop drummer and composer/arranger. He has received several awards for composition and has numerous publications and recordings. In addition, he has been listed in Who’s Who Among American Teachers.
A member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), the Society of Composers, Inc., the Percussive Arts Society, the College Music Society, the Association for Technology in Music Instruction and Theory Southeast, Dr. Long has been inducted into the music honoraries Pi Kappa Lambda and Mu Phi Epsilon. He has served on many university committees, is a faculty senator, maintains the Department of Music web site and is the faculty sponsor for Mu Phi Epsilon. He also is the recipient of several UMW faculty development grants and ASCAP grants. He has performed with several UMW musical groups, as well as the Rappahannock POPS Orchestra, St. Mathew Church and an annual Hospice benefit, among others.
Miriam N. Liss
Dr. Liss is the university’s Psi Chi advisor and recently was awarded the psychology honor society’s Regional Faculty Award for the southeast area. She has a variety of research interests including sensory processing, self-injury in college students and the feminist identity. She has helped initiate many events at the university, including GRE workshops, a career forum and a graduate school forum. An expert in autism and developmental disorders, she also has developed an internship program at the university that trains students to perform Applied Behavioral Analysis with autistic children. Her scholarly work has been published in several academic journals. She holds a doctorate and master’s degree from the University of Connecticut, as well as a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University. She has been teaching at Mary Washington since 2001.
William B. Crawley, Jr.
A member of the Mary Washington faculty since 1970, Dr. Crawley holds the Department of History and American Studies Rector and Visitors’ Chair and also serves as university historian. His primary teaching fields are recent American history and the history of the South. He is the author of Bill Tuck: A Political Life in Harry Byrd’s Virginia. In 1994, he received the university’s “Grellet C. Simpson Award” and in 1992 he was awarded the Mortar Board “Outstanding Faculty Member” award. He holds a doctorate and master’s degree from the University of Virginia, as well as a bachelor’s degree from Hampden-Sydney College, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.
In addition, Dr. Crawley served as executive assistant to the president from 1983 to 1988 and in that capacity was the founding director of the summer transition program. He also was the founding director of the Center for Historic Preservation from 1980 to 1984 and has served as chair of the Department of History and American Studies. He currently is advisor to the Phi Alpha Theta history honor society and a member of the editorial board for UMW Today, the university’s alumni magazine. In addition, he is the co-organizer of the university’s highly successful Chappell Lecture Series, “Great Lives: Biographical Approaches to History.”
Alan G. Heffner
Dr. Heffner has directed the Master of Business Administration program and coordinated the leadership and management concentration of the Bachelor of Professional Studies program at the College of Graduate and Professional Studies since 1999. A professor of leadership and management, he has played an instrumental role in the growth of both programs, developing new curricula, as well as recruiting, hiring and supervising a growing number of leadership and management faculty in the MBA and the BPS programs.
A member of the American Management Association, the Academy of Management, the University Continuing Education Association and the Society for Case Research, Dr. Heffner has served as paid reviewer of numerous publications and texts on management and education. He also has served on various university committees. Dr. Heffner earned a doctorate in sociology from Purdue University, a master of business administration from York College of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in sociology from California State University at Chico, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Sonoma State University.
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News release prepared by: Teresa Mannix