President Milton A. Gordon congratulates three faculty members who have served the university for four decades. They are, from left, Marjorie Tussing, professor of modern languages and literatures; Irene Lange, chair and professor of marketing; and Vuryl Klassen, professor of mathematics. Photo by Patrick O’Donnell

President Milton A. Gordon recognized three faculty members for their 35 years of teaching and research on campus during a March faculty service awards dinner. Honored were, from left, Harris Shultz, professor of mathematics; James Santucci, professor of comparative religion; and Dennis Berg, professor of sociology. Photo by Patrick O’Donnell

Faculty Honored for Years of Service

Cal State Fullerton honored the many years of dedicated service provided by its faculty members during a special March 23 reception.

"Our gesture of appreciation this evening is small in relation to the significant contributions each of you have made to this university and to your respective departments, college, your respective disciplines and the community at large, year after year, as you taught each new generation of students," said President Milton A. Gordon, during the annual function. "You chose the scholarly life...for you, there is never a beginning nor an end to the exploration of knowledge in its full meaning. We recognize that teaching is not magic that can be taught or a set of actions that can be imitated. Your individual style and approach to teaching result from deliberate, purposeful thought as to the goals of the course, the times in which we live, the character of the students and the kind of person each of you are.

"We all chose education for our careers because we knew that we could make a difference in the future by helping to educate our nation's youth, as well as those lifelong learners who are returning to college after a career in a particular field or after raising a family," noted Gordon, who had taught mathematics prior to his presidency. "We are professional educators, and we can be proud of that fact, because we are making a real contribution to society, and that gives purpose and meaning to our lives and the lives of others."

Among the 128 honorees are four faculty members who have served for 40 years. They are: A. Jay Hirsch, professor of accounting; Vuryl Klassen, professor of mathematics; Irene Lange, professor of marketing; and Marjorie Tussing, professor of modern languages and literatures.

The university also recognized four for 35 years of service: Dennis Berg, professor of sociology; Michael Horn, professor of biological science; Peter Othmer, professor of mechanical engineering; James Santucci, professor of comparative religion; and Harris Shultz, professor of mathematics.

Honorees for three decades of service were: Joann Carter-Wells, professor of reading; Paul Deland, professor of mathematics; Robert Gass, Jr., professor of human communication studies; Mohinder Grewal, professor of electrical engineering; Alan Saltzstein, professor of political science; Michael Steiner, professor of American studies; and Ed Trotter, professor of communications.

Kudos were given to these faculty members who have served for 25 years:            Stephen Aloia, associate professor of special education; Michele Druon, professor of modern languages and literatures; Jane V. Hall, professor of economics; Robin Johnson, professor of theatre and dance; Daniel Kee, professor of psychology; Heizaburo Okawa, head fencing coach; Raphael Sonenshein, professor of political science; and David Wong, professor of economics.

Recognized for two decades of service were: Michael Birnbaum, professor of psychology; Mary Kay Crouch, associate professor of English, comparative literature and linguistics; Zvi Drezner, professor of Information Systems and Decision Sciences; William Gearhart, professor of mathematics; Shahin Ghazanshahi, professor of electrical engineering; Seyedabbas Hanizavareh, associate professor of information systems and decision sciences; Benjamin Hubbard, professor of comparative religion; Edith Li, professor of human communication studies; William Lloyd, professor of geography; Keiji Matsumoto, associate professor of modern languages and literatures; Franz Muller-Gotama, associate professor of English, comparative literatures and linguistics; Brady Rhodes, professor of geological sciences; and Fleur Tehrani, professor of electrical engineering.

Honored for 15 years of teaching and research were: Radha Bhattacharya, associate professor of economics; Jeffrey Brody, professor of communications; Carolyn Chang, professor of finance; George Dery III, professor of criminal justice; David Drath, professor of biological science; Ellen Dumond, professor of management; Edward Fink, associate professor of radio-TV-film; Sheryl Fontaine, professor of English, comparative literature and linguistics; Katrin Harich, professor of marketing; Mary Huer, professor of human communication studies; Susan Jacobsen, associate professor of English, comparative literature and linguistics;
Paul Lester, professor of communications; Lance Leuthesser, professor of marketing; Andrew Luzi, professor of accounting; Mariko Molodowitch, associate professor of computer science; Joseph Nevadomsky, professor of anthropology; Ronald Pahl, professor of secondary education; Dipankar Purkayastha, professor of economics; Lynda Randall, professor of secondary education; John Reinard, professor of human communication studies; Golnaz Sadri-Tabrizi, professor of management; Terry Saenz, professor of human communication studies; Ernest Salem, professor of music; Brenda Spencer, associate professor of elementary and bilingual education; Atara Stein, professor of English, comparative literature and linguistics; Robert Watson, professor of music; Toya Wyatt, associate professor of human communication studies; and Heping Zhao, associate professor of English, comparative literature, and linguistics.

Lauded for a decade of service were: Robert Castro, assistant professor of Chicana and Chicano studies; Suellen Cox, associate librarian; Robert Davis, associate professor of radio-TV-film; Eduardo Delgado, professor of music; Mitchell Hanlon, assistant professor of theatre and dance; Elizabeth Housewright, acting associate university librarian; Kuen Ju-Pak, associate professor of communications; Malini Krishnamurthi, lecturer, information systems and decision sciences; Jeff Kuo, professor of civil engineering; Joan Melton, professor of theatre and dance; Emily Miller, assistant professor of liberal studies; Ronald Oliver, associate professor of educational leadership; Richard Parry, assistant professor of management; Nawang Phuntsog, associate professor of elementary and bilingual education; Nancy Porras-Hein, assistant professor of Chicana and Chicano studies; Setsue Shibata, associate professor of modern languages and literatures; Julie Stokes, associate professor of Afro-ethnic studies; Fuming Tao, professor of chemistry and biochemistry; Marcelo Tolmasky, professor of biological science; Donald Valachi, lecturer in finance; and Carolyn Zimmerman, head women’s volleyball coach.

And honored for five years of service were: Debra Ambrosetti, assistant professor of secondary education; Marlin Blaine, associate professor of English, comparative literature and linguistics; John Bock, associate professor of anthropology; David Bowman, associate professor of geological sciences; Stan Breckenridge, lecturer, Afro-Ethnic studies; April Bullock, assistant professor of liberal studies; Merri Lynn Casem, assistant professor of biological science; Grace C. Choi, assistant professor of secondary education; John Doyle, assistant professor of human services; Maryanne Garon, assistant professor of nursing; Richard Gishi, head gymnastics coach; Laura Greathouse, assistant professor of anthropology; Enid Gruber, assistant professor of child and adolescent studies; Paula Herberg, associate professor of nursing; William Hoese, assistant professor of biological science; Sara Johnson, assistant professor of anthropology; Ali Khosroshahin, head women’s soccer coach; Lisa Kirtman, assistant professor of elementary and bilingual education; Jeffrey Knott, assistant professor of geological sciences; Bongshin Ko, assistant professor of music; Joyce Lee, associate professor of educational leadership; Debra Lockwood, assistant professor of theatre and dance; Timothy Maloney, assistant professor of radio-TV-film; Cindy Martinez, student services professional, Student Health and Counseling; Armando Martinez-Cruz, professor of mathematics; Craig McConnell, assistant professor of liberal studies; Barbarly McConnell, senior assistant librarian; Shari McMahan, professor of health science; Debra Noble, assistant professor of theatre and dance; Yong-Tae Park, associate professor of information systems and decision sciences; Sandra Perezlinggi, assistant professor of modern languages and literatures; Sharon Purkiss, associate professor of management; L. Carl Renold, assistant professor of human services; Teeanna Rizkallah, lecturer in business writing; Christina Smith, assistant professor of art; Denise Stanley, associate professor of economic; Andrea Stein, assistant professor of communications; Marilyn Stoner, assistant professor of nursing; Iris Stuart, associate professor of accounting; Laichen Sun, assistant professor of history; Jonathan Taylor, assistant professor of geography; Xiong Wang, associate professor of computer science; and Shu-Chen Yen, assistant professor of child and adolescent studies.