Frank E. Cummings III
His works are sometimes compared to that of Fabergé. Frank E. Cummings III, emeritus professor of art and CSUF’s 1996-97 Outstanding Professor, was a teacher, administrator and adviser — in addition to maintaining an impressive career as an artist — for three decades in the CSU system, including 18 years at Cal State Fullerton. His creations are primarily in private collections, but also on permanent display in the Smithsonian Institution’s Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art and the White House Craft Collection. He was commissioned by the university to create the President’s Medallion for Jewel Plummer Cobb’s 1993 investiture. In the 1998 feature film “How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” Cummings’ work was selected to represent the creative works of Stella, played by Angela Bassett. He received his bachelor’s degree in art from Cal State Long Beach and his master’s degree in art from Cal State Fullerton.
Zvi Drezner
When awarded the 2005-06 Outstanding Professor Award, Zvi Drezner was recognized for his strength in research and publishing, his service to the campus community and his dedication and caring for students. Peers noted that the professor of information systems and decision sciences is a leader in the field of location analysis, the science of geographic location of economic activity, and is well known for his ability to put forth new approaches and introduce issues that “always seem to be ahead of their time.” Drezner has authored more than 200 papers and, in 2005, was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences. Having taught at Cal State Fullerton since 1985, he has been department chair and he’s served on several campus, college and departmental committees, including the university’s Academic Senate. But, it’s in the classroom that Drezner has had the most effect on students, who have praised him for making “learning a joy.”
Jane V. Hall
A nationally recognized expert on environmental economics and a longtime campus leader are just two of the descriptions for Jane V. Hall. The professor of economics and 2000-01 Outstanding Professor has served in campus positions as wide ranging as Academic Senate chair, acting business dean and member of the presidential search committee that brought Milton A. Gordon to campus. Off campus, she is a member of the Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board Council, the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s Scientific, Technical and Modeling Peer Review Advisory Group and the EPA/UCLA Scientific Advisory Committee for the Southern California Center for Airborne Particulate Matter. Hall also is a noted author of more than 60 governmental and agency reports, book chapters and peer-reviewed articles, and co-author of “Air Quality Management in the United States” (2004). One of the first campus faculty members to offer an online course, Hall teaches microeconomic theory, international and environmental economics and environmental regulation.
Steven N. Murray
An internationally renowned marine biologist, Steve Murray, dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, had three job offers when he graduated with his doctorate from UC Irvine in 1971. He could teach at Rutgers, University of Florida or Cal State Fullerton. Because his area of research was in marine biology and coastal ecology, and Fullerton offered the chance for both research and teaching, he chose to teach here. In addition to teaching, Murray served in a variety of administrative positions over the years. He was selected as the university’s 2002-03 Outstanding Professor and became dean in 2005. He has written numerous scientific papers, reviews, book chapters and technical reports. His research has been supported by more than $2 million in grants. He serves on several regional, state, national and international panels and committees that have been influential in shaping public policy on marine coastal environments and reserve systems.
Nancy Segal
A twin herself, Nancy L. Segal’s research on twins is so fascinating she often appears on such television programs as “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “20/20,” and “Good Morning America.” A worldwide authority on twins, the professor of psychology has written two books: “Indivisible by Two: Lives of Extraordinary Twins” (2005) and “Entwined Lives: Twins and What They Tell Us About Human Behavior” (1999). She has won numerous awards for her work. She was CSUF’s 2005-06 Outstanding Professor. She’s been teaching on campus since 1991, the same year she established the Twin Studies Center. Her ongoing studies include research on unrelated “twins,” or virtual twins who are not genetically related but are close in age and reared together from infancy; and an Internet survey in which Segal is comparing the social relationships of families with twin parents.
Raphael J. Sonenshein
Recipient of CSUF’s inaugural Carol Barnes Excellence in Teaching Award earlier this year, Raphael J. Sonenshein has been teaching political science on campus since 1982. He is an expert on American government, urban government, campaigns and elections, racial and minority politics and California and Los Angeles politics and government, and often is called upon to offer news commentary. He is the author of “Politics in Black and White: Race and Power in Los Angeles” (1993) and “The City At Stake: Secession, Reform, and the Battle for Los Angeles” (2004). He provided historical background about race, ethnicity and events that shaped Los Angeles politics and history for the PBS documentary “The New Los Angeles.” He earned his doctorate and master’s degree in political science at Yale and his bachelor’s degree in public policy at Princeton, where he was a Woodrow Wilson School Scholar.
Hallie Yopp Slowik
The university’s Outstanding Professor for 2000-01, Hallie Yopp Slowik is a professor of elementary and bilingual education. She teaches courses in reading and language arts, coordinates a graduate program, co-directs a teacher recruitment project and is involved with the development of the university’s Ed.D. program. Yopp Slowik has written several books, numerous articles and policy documents, and has served on the editorial review boards of major journals in her field. She also is co-author of six curriculum programs published by Harcourt School Publishers for kindergarten through eighth-grade students. Yopp Slowik was inducted into the California Reading Hall of Fame in 2000 and was the recipient of the California State University Wang Family Excellence Award in 2002. Presently on sabbatical, she is working on a book about the importance of word knowledge in understanding text and a book for preschool professionals.
