First Class of Eight Faculty Engaged Scholars Selected
Posted on Nov. 1, 2007Eight faculty members have been selected as the first class of Faculty Engaged Scholars at the University. In this two-year program, the scholars will learn how to connect their faculty work with the needs of a community, and they will apply their skills to make a difference.
The first class of Faculty Engaged Scholars was selected through a campuswide competitive process. They are:
- Gary Bishop, professor of computer science;
- Mimi Chapman, associate professor, School of Social Work;
- Giselle Corbie-Smith, associate professor of social medicine, medicine and epidemiology; schools of medicine and public health;
- Dorothy Holland, professor of anthropology;
- Jock Lauterer ’67, lecturer, School of Journalism and Mass Communication;
- Mai Nguyen, assistant professor of city and regional planning;
- Paul Smokowski, associate professor, School of Social Work; and
- Michael Waltman, associate professor of communication studies.
Each scholar will receive a financial stipend of up to $7,500 a year for each of the two years. Their projects include:
- Lauterer’s Bucket Brigade, journalism students who are creating content for the Spring Hope Enterprise while its editor-publisher recovers from double hip replacement surgery;
- Nguyen’s research to revitalize a predominantly low-income African-American neighborhood in North East Central Durham; and
- Smokowski’s traveling exhibit on acculturation and adjustment in Latino immigrant families to be displayed within communities and online.
“Carolina has a strong tradition of serving the people of North Carolina and the nation,” said Michael R. Smith ’78 (JD), dean of the UNC School of Government who also was appointed Carolina’s first vice chancellor for public service and engagement in 2006.
He said, “The Faculty Engaged Scholars program will support faculty members who want to join their many colleagues who already are collaborating with communities to apply their scholarly work to the state’s challenges.”
The Faculty Engaged Scholars Program is a new initiative of Carolina Center for Public Service and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Public Service and Engagement to advance faculty involvement in the scholarship of engagement. Ronald Strauss of the School of Dentistry will serve as faculty director and Lucille Webb as community director.
“These eight individuals exemplify how Carolina faculty members are using their scholarship to help solve practical problems of our state and beyond,” said Lynn Blanchard ’85 (MPH. ’89 PhD), director of the Carolina Center for Public Service. “This program aims to recognize and reward these faculty, create and sustain a community of engaged scholars from diverse perspectives, and to continue to build Carolina as an institution committed to strong university-community relationships.”
The Carolina Center for Public Service supports faculty, students, and staff in meeting the needs of North Carolina and beyond by promoting scholarship, service and engagement that are responsive to the concerns of the state and contribute to the common good.
Related coverage is available online:
- Public Service Advocate Named Vice Chancellor for Engagement
News report from September 2006 - A Passion for Service: Essay by Michael R. Smith ’78 (JD) explores Carolina’s legacy of public service to the state of North Carolina and asks: Is the University as committed today to improving North Carolina as it was in Edward Kidder Graham’s era? From the September/October 2001 issue of the Carolina Alumni Review, available online to Carolina Alumni members.
- Lynn Blanchard ’85: Beyond ‘I Want to Help’ Campus profile from the November/December 2005 issue of the Carolina Alumni Review, available online to Carolina Alumni members.
