Four Elon University employees were recognized for superior scholarship, teaching, mentoring and service at the annual faculty-staff awards luncheon on May 13, 2009. Laura Roselle, Connie Book, Glenda Crawford and Keith Dimont were each selected for one of the highest accolades bestowed each year on faculty and staff.
The award announcements, made in front of hundreds of colleagues who filled Alumni Gym for the annual ceremony, also included recognition to longtime employees of the university and to pending retirees.
Distinguished Scholar Award
Laura Roselle
Professor of Political Science and International Studies
In the course of her career, Roselle has written or co-authored three books – Research and Writing in International Relations, Media and the Politics of Failure: Great Powers, Communication Strategies, and Military Defeats, and International Radio in Belarus: A National Survey November-December 2000 – edited two more books, published 12 articles and chapters, written numerous reviews and has either written papers or made presentations on dozens of occasions.
Two more books are also in progress: The Political Psychology of Great Powers and Damnatio Memoriae: The Politics of Erasing History.
“Her contributions inside the university make for stronger students and administration. Her contributions outside the university only improve Elon’s reputation among peer institutions,” writes a colleague.
Having taught at Elon since 1993, Roselle has taken advantage of opportunities to conduct extensive research. Areas of particular interest to her include political communication and her work on the relationship between communication and international relations theory.
Roselle is active with the International Studies Association, the premier academic organization related to her field of study, where she has been active with the Executive Committee of the International Communications Section since 2006. She has served as chair of the committee for 2008-2009.
She is a member of the American Political Science Association and the International Society for Political Psychology. Roselle also serves on the editorial board for the journal Media, War, and Conflict, a publication launched last year.
Roselle earned her doctorate degree in political science in 1993 from Stanford University. She is the 10th recipient of the award, established in 2000 to recognize a faculty member whose research has earned peer commendation and respect and who has made significant contribution to his or her field of study.
Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching
Glenda Crawford
Professor of Education
Since arriving at Elon in 1990, Crawford has been making a difference in the lives of her students, in and out of the classroom.
“Dr. Crawford has integrated technology into every one of her lessons and truly ensures that all of our tasks are important and that we can truly learn something,” writes one of Crawford’s students.
Crawford incorporates class participation, group work and creative thinking into the classroom and students feel free to approach her and ask questions. She has developed and taught 19 different courses at both the undergraduate and the graduate level, and she has displayed dedication to her job, her colleagues and her students.
Crawford has also published five books that address the unique relationship between adolescents and learning. Additionally, she has been a presenter and a participant at more than 50 professional meetings.
At Elon, Crawford designed a cultural awareness experience – The Amigos Project – that serves as an ongoing capstone experience that fosters interaction between native Latino middle school students and Elon senior education majors.
“Glenda forms strong relationships with the students in her classroom, making her one of the highest rated professors for teaching in our department,” one colleague writes in a letter nominating Crawford for the award. “Due to her deep knowledge of the subject matter content she teachers, as well as her awareness of how to bring such content ‘to life,’ Glenda is easily able to teach content in a meaningful and engaging way.”
Crawford received her doctorate in educational administration from UNC Greensboro in 1990. She is the 37th winner of the Daniels-Danieley Award, established by President Emeritus J. Earl Danieley and his wife, Verona Daniels Danieley, in honor of their parents.
Ward Family Excellence in Mentoring Award
Connie Book
Associate Professor of Communications / Association Dean of the School of Communications
Throughout the past decade, Book has mentored more than 100 students in their research projects. She supervises an internship program and provides students with the opportunities they need to succeed. Book not only creates a stimulating intellectual environment, but she strives to holistically develop each student.
A former producer and reporter in Baton Rouge, La., Book pursued her doctoral studies at the University of Georgia with a focus on cable television policy. She joined the Elon faculty in 1999 and has published often on digital television, municipal cable policy and regulation.
Book is a four-time recipient of grants from the National Association of Broadcasters to study consumers and television. She is the winner of Broadcast Education Association research awards for six of the past eight years.
She authored Digital Television: DTV and the Consumer, published by Blackwell Press, and was a recipient of a 2007 Pew Internet grant to study international Internet governance policy.
“She is a role model in every sense,” writes a student who was mentored by Book. “I look up to her intellect and work ethic but also her kindness and gentle nature…She has encouraged me to think far beyond my self-imposed limitations and has inspired me to stretch all of life’s possibilities.”
Book is the second recipient of the Ward Family Excellence in Mentoring Award, which was established in 2007 year by Tom and Beth Ward; their sons, A.T. ’05, Christopher ’08 and Chase; and Tom Ward’s mother, Dorothy Mears Ward.
Periclean Award for Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility
Keith Dimont
Supervisor of Automotive Services
During his time at Elon, Keith Dimont has stood out as an individual dedicated to serving the community as a whole. From local volunteer work, to ministering to Katrina victims in New Orleans, Dimont has created a legacy of servant leadership.
“So many call on him for one thing or another because they know that he is there for them,” one colleague writes in a letter nominating Dimont for the award. “He has always been a Yes person. Just ask and it is done.”
Dimont has worked extensively with a local dance company, Amber’s House of Dance, by building props and working backstage during the performances. He also built, free of charge, basketball hoops for Western High School’s summer basketball camp. Dimont volunteers at fall festivals, collects food for those in need and serves in his local church.
“Keith will go above and beyond for anyone if he can,” wrote a long-time colleague. “You can depend on his word.”
Dimont is the seventh recipient of the Periclean Award, presented each year to a member of Elon’s faculty or staff whose service to the broader community exemplifies the ideals of Project Pericles.
Honored for their years of service to Elon are the following staff and faculty and have retired this academic year or will do so at the end of the semester:
Jim Murphy – Director of Instructional Design and Development and assistant professor of computing sciences
David Noer – Frank S. Holt Jr. Professor of Business Leadership
Nan Perkins – Former vice president of University Advancement
Richard McBride – University Chaplain
Perkins was recognized by a state official for her three decades of dedication to Elon and was given the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian honored bestowed by the governor of the state of North Carolina.
– Emily Eng ’11, Office of University Relations