Published on Nov. 17, 2020

The Office of the Provost would like to announce two very special awards: the William H. Byler Distinguished Professor Award and the Maxine Christopher Shutz Award and Lecture for Distinguished Teaching. The Byler and the Shutz are awarded to an outstanding faculty member each year.

 William H. Byler Distinguished Professor Award

Erica Lembke, Interim Dean, College of Education, Professor, Special Education

Lembke was named the interim dean of the College of Education in July 2020. She has been the chair of Special Education since 2015. Her research interests include data-based decision making for teachers through designing and implementing Curriculum-Based Measures in elementary and secondary grades. She has served as a Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PI on nearly $10 million in federally funded projects.

The William H. Byler Distinguished Professor award was established in 1978 by Dr. William H. Byler, senior vice president for research, U.S. Radium Corp., for recognition of outstanding abilities, performance and character. The Byler award will be presented at the 2020 Faculty Recognition Awards virtual ceremony in January 2021.

Maxine Christopher Shutz Award and Lecture for Distinguished Teaching

Julie Elman, Associate Professor, Women’s & Gender Studies; Director of Undergraduate Studies

Elman’s areas of research include disability studies; feminist and queer theory; science studies; and U.S. media and cultural history. Her book, Chronic Youth: Disability, Sexuality, and US Media Cultures of Rehabilitation, was published in 2014 by NYU Press. Elman was one of two faculty award winners for the Lee Henson Access Mizzou Award Winners (2020), was one of the SEC Visiting Faculty Travel Award Recipients (2017-8), and was the recipient of the Provost’s Outstanding Junior Faculty Teaching Award (2015).

As a result of the generosity of the late Byron T. and Maxine Christopher Shutz, an endowment was established in 1982 to recognize distinguished teachers from the Columbia campus. The Shutz award is awarded to a faculty member who has demonstrated extra efforts to involve undergraduates in active learning experiences and to personalize the undergraduate experience of students. The recipient of the Shutz award also presents a lecture during the awards ceremony.

Congratulations to both of our outstanding award winners for 2020!