Elmhurst College Presents Excellence Awards to Faculty and Staff, and Announces Research Grants

Raymond Kraus of Villa Park and Venkatesh Gopal of Evanston were awarded the Elmhurst College President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching for their contributions to education at the college's Faculty Awards dinner May 14.

Kraus and Gopal were nominated by student organizations, who supported their nominations before members of the Faculty Development Committee.

Kraus, assistant professor of kinesiology, began teaching at the college in 2007. Some of the comments received from students nominating Kraus included:

“Dr. Kraus goes above and beyond for his students," "He creates opportunities for students that allow them to have experiences beyond the classroom and apply the knowledge they have gained," "He does not just expect the best out of students but demonstrates it as well.”

Gopal, assistant professor of physics, joined the Elmhurst College faculty in 2008. Students said: “Whenever I have a meeting with Dr. Gopal, I am always aware of his deep desire and passion for the development of the students," "He encourages students to have multiple viewpoints and use various routes to solve a problem," "As a leader, Dr. Gopal uses a series of questions to guide the students along a path that will lead them to their own conclusions during the discussion.”

Earlier in May, at the annual College Retirement and Recognition Breakfast, Lisa Brosch of Carol Stream received the Administrative Excellence Award and Helene Moreth of Bensenville received the Staff Excellence Award.

Created during the 1998-1999 academic year, these awards recognize outstanding achievements by two important segments of the Elmhurst College community. Recipients are nominated by the eight officers of the college and recommended to the president.

Brosch serves as director of development relations. She began working at the college in 2002 as alumni secretary, and in 2007 she became the development writer to help develop a new stewardship program. In 2008 Brosch was promoted to her current position.

“I was thrilled to be chosen to receive this year’s Administrative Excellence Award,” Brosch said. “I love working at the college and am so thankful to be working with such an amazing group of people.”

Moreth has worked in the Human Resources and Payroll Department since 2000. 

“Helene provides every HR department visitor or caller with a warm welcome,” said John Newton, director of human resources. “She is a tremendous employee advocate and the College is better for having Helene on its staff!”

 “I’m still in shock to have received this honor,” Moreth said. “Elmhurst College is a great place to work, and the people here make it a joy to come to work every day.”

Research Grants

After participating in a competitive application process, 10 Elmhurst College professors recently were awarded grants to support major academic projects involving research, writing, and creative endeavors. The Faculty Development Committee, in cooperation with the Center for Scholarship and Teaching, provide annual stipends to enhance faculty study, research and course development.

Elmhurst College professors who received Faculty Research Grants are:

• Juan Carlos Barrera of Elmhurst, professor of international business, to examine and compare computer literacy skills of fast-track adult business students at Elmhurst College and in Germany
• Nicholas Behm of Bolingbrook, professor of English, to draft a publication proposal for a book examining the discursive practices that reinforce and/or inculcate whiteness and white privilege in three prominent first-year guides to writing
• Diana Brannon of Lombard and Dr. Linda Dauksas of Flossmoor, professors of education, to investigate the effect of pre-kindergarten family involvement on student achievement, parent self-efficacy and pre-service teacher preparation
• Sarah Brooks of Elmhurst, professor of education, to examine caring as an aspect of the teaching and learning of history at the middle school level
• Lisa Burke of Riverside, professor of education, to investigate the instructional practices and reading comprehension strategies used by middle school general education teachers
• Tamara Marsh of Crestwood, professor of biology, to continue establishing mixed cultures of methanogenic Archaebacteria obtained from Yellowstone National Park in order to determine heavy metal reducing capabilities under methanogenic conditions
• Teri Walker of Lemont, professor of political science, to extend the use of our judicial election database by investigating the effect of variables such as regions, party, incumbent versus challenger and decision-making models
• Mary Walsh of Morton Grove, professor of political science, to investigate the potential of social contract theory to reconcile two competing trends in feminist theory
• Jeanne White of Tinley Park, professor of education, to document effective strategies for teaching mathematics to English language learners