Fredericksburg, Va. – The top University of Mary Washington undergraduate student and four faculty members received honors from the university during commencement ceremonies Saturday, May 12.
Anna Mary Brownfield of Barboursville, Va., received the “Colgate W. Darden, Jr. Award,” which is presented annually to the student with the highest grade-point average (GPA) in the four-year undergraduate program. She finished with a perfect 4.0 GPA.
Thomas G. Moeller, professor of psychology, 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.
Jason W. Davidson, assistant professor of political science and international affairs, 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.
Kenneth D. Machande, assistant professor of business administration, 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.”
Gail D. Brooks, associate professor of computer information systems, 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.
Anna Mary Brownfield
A biology major and summa cum laude graduate, Brownfield has been inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and Chi Beta Phi, a national science honorary. She is the author of the research project “Rapid Diagnosis of Feline Bartonella Infections,” and has served as secretary of the Pre-Vet Club. A volunteer at the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, where she works as a veterinary assistant, she also has shadowed at Blue Ridge Equine Clinic. In addition, Brownfield has been named to the President’s List (all A’s) every semester.
The recipient of an Alumni Scholarship and a Sodexho Scholarship, recognizing her service as a Seacobeck Dining Hall student employee, Brownfield also has received the Lettie Pate Whitehead Scholarship. During her senior year, she served as president of the Canterbury Club and participated in a Katrina-relief mission trip to Bay St. Louis, Miss.
Thomas G. Moeller
A member of the University of Mary Washington faculty since 1973, Dr. Moeller holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Marquette University and a master’s degree and doctorate in child behavior and development from the University of Iowa. His primary research interest lies in the normal and abnormal development of children up to the age of 12, especially in the areas of parenting education and educational psychology, and he received training in clinical child and school psychology from the University of Virginia. He also is an expert in youth violence and forensic psychology.
In addition to workshops given to parents and educators, Dr. Moeller has had his work published in several journals, including The APS Observer, Psychonomic Science, The Education Digest, the Virginia Journal of Education and the Journal of Psychology and the Behavioral Sciences. He has been a panelist for "With Good Reason" on Virginia’s public radio stations, most recently on the topic of bullying, and has written articles for newspapers such as the Richmond Times‑Dispatch and the Roanoke Times.
Dr. Moeller also has contributed a book chapter, "Using Classroom Debates in Teaching Developmental Psychology," for the Handbook of Demonstrations and Activities in the Teaching of Psychology. In 2001, he wrote a book, titled Youth Aggression and Violence. Dr. Moeller is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Psychological Society, the Virginia Psychological Association and the Society for Research in Child Development.
Jason W. Davidson
A professor at UMW since 2001, Dr. Davidson holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree and doctorate in government from Georgetown University. He is a two-time recipient of the Academic Affairs Council Professors’ Appreciation Award, and he was awarded a UMW Jepson Fellowship for 2005-06 for the project titled “Signaling Resolve in Contemporary American Foreign Policy.”
Dr. Davidson has written chapters in such books as Power in Transition: The Peaceful Change of International Order and Sanctions as Economic Statecraft: Theory and Practice. In addition, he has had articles published in such journals as Security Studies and The Nonproliferation Review. He also is the author of the book The Origins of Revisionist and Status-quo States. Dr. Davidson is a member of the American Political Science Association and the International Studies Association. He is an expert on European politics, foreign relations of the United States and Europe, American foreign and security policy, and international affairs.
Kenneth D. Machande
A certified public accountant in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Machande earned a bachelor of liberal studies degree with highest distinction from the University of Mary Washington after receiving an association of arts degree from the University of Maryland-Far East Division in Okinawa, Japan. He holds a master of business administration from Albany State University and is a certified Management Accountant and a National Association of Security Dealers Registered Representative.
A member of the Mary Washington faculty since 2000, Machande has held positions as a senior accountant at a mid-sized CPA firm and as a controller for a heavy equipment sales and repair company. He also has been a logistics officer in the United States Marine Corps.
Machande has served as the comptroller of George Washington’s Fredericksburg Foundation and as treasurer for the Friends of the Rappahannock. In addition, he is an Internal Revenue Service Volunteer Income Tax Advisor and has taught student volunteer advisors. He is a member of the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Institute of Management Accountants, and the business honor societies Sigma Beta Delta and Delta Mu Delta.
Gail D. Brooks
A member of the University of Mary Washington faculty since 1999, Dr. Brooks directs the Master of Science in Management Information Systems Program (MSMIS) and the Master of Business Administration’s Information Security Concentration. In addition, she codirects the MBA-MSMIS Dual Degree Program and the Bachelor of Professional Studies Program (BPS). Dr. Brooks holds a doctorate in education, assistive and instructional technology from George Mason University, as well as bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Virginia Tech.
An expert in instructional technology and the integration of its tools and methods into course content and delivery, Dr. Brooks played a leadership role in the development of technology concentrations in the BPS and MBA programs. In addition, she was recently named to the board of the Fredericksburg Regional Technology Council (FredTech).
Prior to joining Mary Washington, she was discipline coordinator and professor in information systems technology at Germanna Community College and a computer information systems department head and instructor at Strayer University. Dr. Brooks previously worked as a systems analyst at the Naval Surface Weapon Center in Dahlgren.