Nearly thirty years after NIU decided to honor its most accomplished researchers (and two decades since the creation of its top teaching award), the university created a third presidential professorship for faculty whose work creates partnerships and supports communities.
President John Peters announced the Presidential Engagement and Partnership Professors (PEPP) award at his 2010 State of the University Address, and the first class of PEPPs were named the following year.
Cliff Mirman was Chair of the Department of Technology, a teacher who saw the problems of local industry as a goldmine of opportunity for his students.
“I consider it a priority to bring regional industry and education together,” Mirman wrote in his PEP application. “Not only do we help these industries with developing new products and finding ways to reduce costs, but the projects they give us to work on provide invaluable experience for our students.”
The concept of mutual benefit that defines university engagement was much in evidence with all the partnerships Mirman developed.
“Cliff and his students make it happen,” said John Pechan, operations director at Olcott Plastics in St. Charles. “They provide us with creative, cost-effective, robust solutions. Every project has resulted in the acquisition of knowledge for all parties.”
Anthropologist Susan Russell proved that engagement with communities has no geographic boundaries. Russell worked under a U.S. State Department grant to bring peace to a conflict-torn region of the Philippines. Among her methods was an annual summer institute that brought young Filipino activists to the NIU campus for training in peace-building, conflict resolution, civic engagement and volunteerism.
One of her nominators wrote “There is a large and growing network of alumni, educators and other professionals in the Philippines and the U.S. who are now committed to peace, cultural and environmental sustainability, inter-ethnic and inter-religious understanding and community engagement thanks to Dr. Russell.”
Anthropologist Kendall Thu is one of the world’s top experts in agricultural industrialization, and focuses much of his work on the impact of large, commercial farming on air and water quality. He is a founding member of the Illinois Citizens for Clean Air and Water and has helped many small farmers and communities understand how to organize and advocate for policies and practices that protect the environment, human health, and rural quality of life.
“Dr. Thu is a publically engaged anthropologist,” wrote one of his nominators, “and he is helping make our discipline distinctive and distinguished in the larger public arena, making it directly useable at community, regional and national levels.”
Since its inception, 18 faculty have been named Presidential Engagement and Partnership Professors.
Video of the first PEP awards presentation
Click on photos to enlarge.
