Annual Academic Convocation Honors Faculty, Staff

This year’s Distinguished Faculty Award winners, selected by their peers, were: Harvey Flaxman, professor emeritus, visual/ performing arts, F-M, who received the Distinguished Faculty Award for Service; Ralph Selig, mathematics/computer science, T-H, who was presented the Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching; and Irene Taviss Thomson, sociology, F-M, who won the Distinguished Faculty Award for Research and Scholarship.

For the second year, President J. Michael Adams presented Presidential Citations, which are given to faculty members, staff members or administrators who have “successfully initiated an innovative program or process — a program that upholds the academic excellence we hold in such high regard and one that provides students with new opportunities to achieve a global education.”  The citations were awarded to Ronald Heim, associate dean, Samuel J. Silberman College of Business Administration, F-M, and Neal Sturm, associate vice president for information resources and technology, F-M.

Also, for the second year, the Academic Convocation featured the presentation of the Pillars of Fairleigh Dickinson University Awards, which recognize those nonfaculty members who have made “extraordinary contributions to the character and quality” of the University. Honored were: Ethel Froewiss, associate director of transfer admissions, F-M; Eileen Kerrigan, administrative assistant to the department chair, Silberman College, T-H; Michael Smallis, associate dean of students, F-M; and Michele Vaccaro, coordinator for adult and part-time student services and MBA, T-H. The honorees were selected by previous recipients of the Pillar awards.

The convocation also featured the introduction of new faculty members and Student Government Association (SGA) presidents Charles Davis, T-H, and Tedd Konya, F-M, and a keynote address delivered by Michael Sperling, associate provost for interdisciplinary, distributed and global learning. Sperling’s topic was “Globalization Versus Global Education.”

In his address, Sperling sought to clarify the distinction between globalization and global education, “Globalization is an international and intranational force, while global education is a teaching/learning paradigm.” He added, “Motivated by economic forces and driven by digital technologies and communications, globalization links individuals and institutions across the world with unprecedented interconnection and immediacy.” 

Sperling explained, “Global education does what higher education has traditionally aimed to do: extend students’ awareness of the world in which they live by opening them to the diverse heritage of human thought, action and creativity. … While it continues to depend on the traditional branches of specialist knowledge, global education seeks to weaken the boundaries between disciplines and encourages emphasis on what interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies can bring to the understanding and solution of human problems.”

Sperling pointed out that while the University has a rich tradition of providing a global education, “each of us needs to forge a new understanding and commitment for what global education should come to mean. Given the events of the past few weeks, it seems to me that global education’s emphasis on the appreciation of multiple perspectives is more crucial than ever.” (The complete text of Sperling’s address is available online.)

Distinguished Faculty

Thomson spent two years as a lecturer at Harvard before joining Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1975. For more than a quarter century, she has provided students with illuminating lessons on the human condition, teaching courses such as Social Problems and the Individual and Society.

At the same time, she has continued to provide significant breakthroughs in her research. For example, her 1989 study was the first to systematically compare images of individuals in the 1920s and 1970s. Last year, she had her fourth book, In Conflict No Longer: Self and Society in Contemporary America, published.

In addition, she has written for some of the country’s most competitive and top-rated journals, including American Sociological Review and Social Forces. She also is an editorial board member of Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. Thomson currently is studying the enduring appeal of mass society theory within American sociology and culture.

A writer, performer, director and producer, Harvey Flaxman has applied his creative talents to a wide variety of Fairleigh Dickinson efforts since joining the University in 1968. In his long-term role as chair of the department of visual and performing arts, he has mentored faculty and students in the fields of music, art, theater, film and computer graphics.

Flaxman also has created and built what many have called Fairleigh Dickinson’s most innovative program in the last decade, the pioneering undergraduate program in electronic filmmaking and digital video design — the first and only university program of its kind in the country.

His service to Fairleigh Dickinson extends to many other realms. For example, he volunteered to produce a promotional video for Wroxton College, a piece that earned him a bronze TELLY award in 1993. He received another such award this year for his work as director and executive producer of “Many Languages: One Small World,” a collaborative project with the Peter Sammartino School of Education. And he recently produced a video on the history of the Florham estate.

In addition, he has served as chair of Maxwell Becton College’s Educational Policies Committee and as a member of the Faculty Rights and Welfare Committee. 

Ralph Selig joined FDU in 1986, and much of his career has been spent at New College of General and Continuing Studies. Selig has played a critical role in the college’s foremost mission of providing lifelong learning opportunities for students of all ages.

As a mathematics and computer science instructor, he has taught the traditional-aged students in courses like Statistics, College Algebra and Trigonometry. He also has taught the adult student population, on campus and at off-campus sites, and is known for helping ease their apprehension about taking math courses.

Selig also teaches younger students in the Gifted and Talented courses and in FDU’s Middle College Program. Whether it’s “Graphs Galore” at Bogota High School or “Products and Quotients” at Hasbrouck Heights High School, he has taught hundreds of middle school and high school students in New Jersey.

His expertise is reflected in numerous ways, including his many impressive contributions appearing in well-respected journals like the New York State Mathematics Teachers Journal and the New England Mathematics Journal.

Well versed in computer-assisted instruction, Selig taught one of the University’s first distance-learning courses. He also has been active on departmental, college-wide and University-wide committees. 

Pillars of Fairleigh Dickinson University

Eileen Kerrigan joined the institution in 1956, and her experience and knowledge have proven vital to students, faculty, administrators and staff. Serving as president of the Teaneck Support Staff Association, she has been a strong advocate on behalf of union members, striving to improve their working conditions and compensation and mentoring others. Within Silberman College, she has long played an integral role, informally training new staff members and graduate assistants. Her citation declared, “Her knack of making colleagues feel like family members has warmed many souls, and her willingness to open her heart and her home to international students illustrates her humanity and devotion to FDU’s global mission.”

Michael Smallis has served the University in a wide range of activities. His citation proclaimed, “His leadership is always evident, whether serving as president of the Professional Administrative Senate and chair of the Florham-Madison Campus Council, or administering the Freshman Seminar program, taking responsibility for the judicial process on campus and advising various student clubs and organizations.” In the last five years alone, Smallis has served on more than 25 committees and task forces. A member of the Madison Town Council University Relations Committee, he fosters partnerships with students at Drew University and St. Elizabeth’s College. He is also active in many causes in the community, including the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, the New Jersey Buddies Program and New Jersey Voices for Life.

Michele Vaccaro, through increasingly challenging positions over the last 14 years, has significantly contributed to the improvement of the University’s academic and social welfare. As her citation noted, “The benchmark for professionalism, integrity and hard work, her impressive efforts include serving in a leadership position with the Professional Administrative Senate and as a representative to the Campus Council and a member of numerous committees and special events, including her role in coordinating commencement ceremonies.” She has also motivated students to make a difference in the community and has led many charitable ventures for local hospitals and worthy organizations such as Tomorrows Children’s Fund, Hackensack University Medical Center.

Presidential Citations

Adams added, “In the service of your alma mater, you have crafted the pathways and provided the mechanisms that allow our students to explore the world from their dormitory rooms and their classrooms. You have empowered our faculty to reach the corners of the earth in their commitment to academic excellence. And, you have supported the staff and administration in their efforts to provide both students and faculty with new tools and opportunities.”

Ronald Heim was honored for his commitment and dedication to the acquisition of AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accreditation for his college — the Samuel J. Silberman College of Business Administration. Adams said, “A teacher, an administrator and the ultimate professional, you spearheaded the development of not one, but two AACSB self-studies, which laid the groundwork not just for the successful bid to achieve [special] accreditation, but for the College’s direction well into the 21st century.”

Heim has taught marketing at FDU since 1980 and specializes in marketing research, advertising and interactive marketing. His avocation is photography, and he was praised during the ceremony for being skillful as an artist and University leader. Adams noted, “Whether behind the camera’s eye, or in front of a collegiate mission statement, you understand the importance of composition and bringing together the components of the picture to create a realistic and positive impression. You are imaginative in the use of light — illuminating the positive, overcoming the negative. And most of all you are knowledgeable in applying the appropriate lens to correctly reflect the image as you envision it, indeed, know it to be.”

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