May 2015

MarquetteMatters

Teaching Excellence Award winners demonstrate true meaning behind Be The DifferenceBy Clare Peterson

DIANE DRESSLER| CLiniCaL assistant Professor CoLLege of nursingDiane Dressler, clinical assistant professor in the College of Nursing, is described

by many as a “master teacher.” An early adopter of simulation technology and after

educating future nurses for more than 16 years, Dressler continues to use this

innovative teaching strategy to help students gain knowledge and hands-on practice.

“I ask questions during the debriefing phase that prompt students to reflect on

their performance and to generate a deeper understanding of how the simulation

experience can be applied to their practice,” Dressler says.

This teaching strategy is highly regarded among her students. “Professor Dressler

is a living example of nursing education excellence, and she cares fervently about

the holistic development of her students,” a student notes in Dressler’s nomination.

Dressler is equally supportive when it comes to mentoring, counseling and guiding

new faculty members in the College of Nursing. “All of the faculty she has mentored

have stated that Diane is a fantastic teacher and that they have benefitted greatly from

her wisdom and guidance,” says Dr. Kerry Kosmoski-Goepfert, RN, associate clinical

professor and associate dean for undergraduate programs.

In fact, due to the frequency Dressler has received the College of Nursing’s

Teaching Excellence Award, a policy had to be established so that no faculty member

could be eligible for the award in the year following a win. “I love teaching our

nursing students in the classroom, the simulation lab and in clinical settings. It is

a privilege to impact the education of students who will help create the future of

health care,” says Dressler.

DR. KRISTEN FOSTER| assoCiate Professor of History KLingLer CoLLege of arts and sCienCesDr. Kristen Foster, associate professor of history in the Klingler College of Arts and

Sciences, is said to have cura personalis in her DNA. “I like to think that my father

passed along his love of both learning and teaching to me, and that in some small way,

I have tried to mirror his tremendous commitment to the well-being and education of

anyone who dares to open themselves fully to the process of learning,” Foster says.

Foster’s unrelenting commitment to her students is just one reason she is a 2015

Teaching Excellence Award recipient. “I always felt like I was the most important

student she needed to see that day,” emphasizes a former student.

Foster’s use of film clips, music and literature during her lectures give students

a deeper look into the complex web of personalities, realities and intangibles that

drive historical events. A former student, commenting on Foster’s teaching style says,

“Dr. Foster cultivated a dynamic learning environment, never relying on any one type

of teaching strategy, but instead utilized an array of strategies to create an environ-

ment that was conducive to spirited historical scholarship.”

As a mentor and noted role model, Foster counsels students to discern a path

that they may not have previously considered. Her enthusiasm for the subject not

only sparks students’ interest on the topic but has inspired many to pursue careers

in history.

“Whatever students choose to pursue in life, I want them to embrace and fear-

lessly question the world around them. I want them to remember to ask ‘why,’ and

to choose the search for truth and meaning as often as they are able. In this way,

their lives will be richer, and the world will be a better place,” says Foster.

Diane Dressler, clinical assistant professor in the College of Nursing

Dr. Andrew Starsky, clinical associate professor of physical therapy

Dr. Kristen Foster, associate professor of history

Dr. Philip Voglewede, associate professor of mechanical engineering

Teaching Excellence Awards are the highest honor bestowed upon Marquette faculty members. recipients are nominated by colleagues and students for demonstrating excellence as teacher-scholars. diane dressler, dr. Kristen foster, dr. andrew starsky and dr. Philip Voglewede are the 2015 teaching excellence award recipients and were honored at the Père Marquette dinner on april 30.

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Teaching Excellence Awards C o nt i n u e d F r o M Pag e 1

MarquetteMatters

Dr. Nabeel Demerdash, professor of electrical and computer engineering

DR. ANDREW STARSKy| CLiniCaL assoCiate Professor of PHysiCaL tHeraPy CoLLege of HeaLtH sCienCesIf pulling out a guitar and singing a song about “gait analysis” will get

the message across to his students, Dr. Andrew Starsky, clinical associate

professor of physical therapy, will do so. Starsky educates students across

three different degree programs in the Department of Physical Therapy,

many of which are the core classes that bring the program its high

national reputation.

Starsky has a unique academic background. He earned his undergraduate

degree in electrical engineering, a master’s degree in physical therapy and

a doctorate in biomedical engineering — all from Marquette. His academic

training combined with his clinical experiences allow him to break down

complex ideas for students in ways that make learning highly engaging.

Many of Starsky’s students note that he typically knows each of them

by name within the first week of classes, even in lectures as large as 60

to 70 students. Starsky fosters student learning through innovative, high-

impact practices such as student research opportunities, collaborative

student assignments, service learning and capstone projects. “He provides

students with a truly memorable educational experience, using a dynamic,

engaging, innovative style of teaching to make learning interesting and

especially long-lasting,” notes a colleague.

“I am a strong believer in the value of a college education. I calculate

how much the students are paying per hour of class, and give them a

money back guarantee. I promise to make each hour worth it, or I will

refund their tuition for that hour. Fifteen years of teaching and no refunds

yet,” Starsky adds.

DR. PHILIP VOGLEWEDE| assoCiate Professor of MeCHaniCaL engineering oPus CoLLege of engineeringA consistent theme runs through the nomination of Dr. Philip

Voglewede, associate professor of mechanical engineering: an ener-

getic instructor who is passionate about teaching and student learning.

“My teaching goal is to create independent thinkers who are able to

adapt to the constantly changing technological world in which we live,”

Voglewede says.

And he works hard to achieve this goal by going the extra mile for

his students. He holds daily office hours to ensure all his students have

the opportunity to see him outside the classroom, regularly organizes

problem-solving sessions and hosts Sunday night study sessions before

final exams.

Feedback, Voglewede says, is a “two-way street,” which is why he

distributes a mid-semester evaluation to seek feedback from his students

on his performance.

Voglewede’s extraordinarily high course evaluation scores reflect his

students’ appreciation of his commitment to teaching excellence. “It’s

important to note that he achieves these glowing reviews while teaching

some of the most difficult classes we offer,” indicates a colleague.

While Voglewede continually pushes his students academically, he

remains sensitive to their needs and skill level. “As educators, we need to

find what motivates our students to achieve at a level they do not think

they can achieve, and lift them to that level,” Voglewede says.

The Genius of Soul didn’t know much about

electricity, but thankfully for the rest of us,

Dr. Nabeel Demerdash certainly does.

Demerdash is this year’s recipient of the

Lawrence G. Haggerty Faculty Award for

Research Excellence. The professor of electrical

and computer engineering is a world-renowned

authority and author in the modeling, analysis

and design of electric machines and drives.

With contributions in the areas of reliability,

energy efficiency, modeling, analysis and design,

his work has improved the reliability of elec-

tric motors that could improve survivability in

key moments by preventing power failures.

Predicting when a motor is going to fail can

be a matter of life and death.

For example, Demerdash’s work to improve

the prediction of propeller motor failure could

mean the difference between life and death

for submarine personnel, or during surgery in

a hospital in the case of a backup generator

failure after a power outage.

He also has worked to improve the efficiency

of motors, which has helped to cut energy

usage in appliances and other devices world-

wide. These improvements also are being used

in electric hybrid vehicles, allowing them a way

to “limp home” if there is an issue.

What is the driving force behind the

improvements?

“Sharper numerical tools that allow us to

come up with solutions for more efficient

devices,” Demerdash says.

One of his main contributions has been

work to improve energy efficiency.

“If we consider the fact that energy

consumed by electric motors comprises

80 percent of the total electric energy consumed,

the significance of his work becomes obvious,”

says Edwin E. yaz, chair and professor of elec-

trical and computer engineering. “In addition to

his outstanding research performance, Professor

Demerdash is also a very dedicated teacher

and mentor. His compassion for his students

is legendary.”

Demerdash is proudest of his work as

a professor. He has been one at Marquette

since 1994.

“Nothing gives me more joy than mentoring

people, watching them complete their educa-

tion and becoming successful, whether it’s in

industry or academia,” he says.

Demerdash received a bachelor’s degree from

Cairo University in 1964, a master’s degree from

University of Pittsburgh in 1967 and a doctorate

from Pittsburgh in 1971.

He was a 1999 IEEE Nikola Tesla Awardee,

the highest honor given by IEEE, the world’s

largest technical professional society. His

career has been so exemplary that there is

little or no space left on his office walls for

additional plaques.

However, the Tesla award is prominently

displayed, citing Demerdash “for pioneering

contributions to electric machine and drive

systems design using coupled finite-element

and electrical network models.”

Two of his former students (one works

at General Motors and the other at General

Electric) also have won the award.

Over his long career, Demerdash has secured

more than $4 million in grants and other funding.

Demerdash’s important work leads to award for research excellenceBy Joe digiovanni

“ What is a soul? it’s like electricity — we don’t really know what it is, but it’s a force that can light a room.”

— ray Charles

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MarquetteMatters

Promising work leads to Way Klingler Young Scholar AwardsBy Joe digiovanni

Dr. Serdar Bozdag, assistant professor of mathematics, statistics and computer science

Dr. Melissa J. Ganz, assistant professor of English

Dr. Jeremy Fyke, assistant professor of communication studies and corporate communication

Dr. Lisa Petrella, assistant professor of biological sciences

Way Klingler Young Scholar Awards support promising young scholars

in critical stages of their careers with awards of up to $32,000. They are

intended to fund $2,000 in operating costs and to cover up to 50 percent

of salary to afford the recipient a one-semester sabbatical. The 2014–15

Way Klingler Young Scholar Award recipients are Drs. Serdar Bozdag,

Jeremy Fyke, Melissa Ganz and Lisa Petrella.

Serdar Bozdag, assistant professor of mathematics, statistics and

computer science, is doing research that could help us understand the

genetic basis of diseases. The semester sabbatical will give him the time

to develop a computational tool for a whole genome.

“This tool will allow biologists and clinicians to identify therapeutic

targets and drivers of diseases,” he says.

Bozdag wants to develop computational tools to integrate biological

data to reverse engineer gene regulatory networks (GRNs). A GRN

represents interactions between genes and protein byproducts of some

other genes. This activity governs the biological processes in a cell.

He will use his results as preliminary data to apply for a National

Institutes of Health grant, where he will propose to integrate other types

of biological data to increase the accuracy of reverse engineering even

further. He will publish his results in a bioinformatics journal.

Jeremy Fyke, assistant professor of communication studies and corporate

communication, will work on several projects during his sabbatical.

“My immediate plan is to continue, topically, the line of research I have

established, and push forth on the projects I have in progress,” he says.

Fyke currently has three articles under review at various journals, and

is preparing a piece with Dr. Scott D’Urso for The SAGE Encyclopedia of

Organizational Communication.

He hopes to write a paper within the next year on the unintended

consequences of using metaphors in leadership training.

Fyke also plans to work with Diederich College of Communication

colleagues on additional projects, one of which will examine the role

of internships in college students’ socialization into careers.

Melissa J. Ganz, assistant professor of English, will complete revisions

to her first book, Public Vows: Fictions of Marriage in the English

Enlightenment, and begin a new study, The Outlaw and the Magistrate:

Imagining Justice in the British Enlightenment.

She specializes in 18th-century British literature and culture, law and

literature, and the history of the novel. She began doctoral work in litera-

ture after receiving a J.D. and publishing in legal and cultural history.

“My research is driven by a desire to understand the ways in which

literature and law have shaped each other in the past and continue to

speak to each other today,” she says.

Ganz is also completing a series of essays that explore questions of

criminal responsibility in 19th-century fiction.

“My work is fueled by the conviction that literature offers not only

aesthetically powerful insights into the human condition but also uniquely

valuable contributions to pressing legal and ethical concerns,” Ganz says.

Lisa Petrella, assistant professor of biological sciences, is studying the

effects of changing temperatures on germ cells.

“Temperature has special environmental interest because, despite

perhaps being in the range of only a few degrees, the temperature

increases due to global warming have significant and direct consequences

on how animals develop,” says K. Dale Noel, chair the Department of

Biological Sciences.

“In addition, there are many connections of her work to human

biology, including loss of male fertility at high temperature,” he says.

Petrella will continue to study the temperature effects of cells during

her sabbatical.

“Understanding what goes wrong in these cells has implications not

only in human and livestock fertility, but also in potentially catastrophic

loss of certain types of invertebrate populations with an increase in

global temperatures,” she says.

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MarquetteMatters

Four staff members recognized for service above and beyond job descriptionsBy Jesse Lee

Excellence in University Service Awards

recognize staff members who have contributed

to the essential work of Marquette at the highest

levels of excellence. Recipients were nominated

based on service that is above and beyond the

duties normally assigned to their positions. They

will be honored at the Excellence in University

Service Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, June 3.

Dr. Kim HAlUlA, AssociAte DeAn, college of HeAltH sciences

Dr. Kim Halula has served Marquette in a

number of roles for more than 30 years, from

director of the Dental Hygiene program to

interim chair for the Physician Assistant Studies

and Speech Pathology and Audiology programs.

Those who nominated her note that she is

always willing to tackle any job and work on

any committee — an attribute Halula credits to

the Jesuit tradition of cura personalis.

“It takes the contributions of so many at all

levels to achieve the success of the whole, and

no one person is more important than another

when working to accomplish a task,” Halula

says. “Marquette provides an opportunity for all

of us to work together to make a difference in

the lives of our students, in the community and

in the world.

“So often, we get caught up in our destination

in life and we forget to appreciate the journey

along the way, especially the goodness of the

people we meet and work with,” she says. “My

hope is that everyone I come in contact with at

Marquette — whether it be the students, alumni,

faculty or staff — realize that I genuinely appre-

ciate who they are and what they do.”

StAcy mitz, AssistAnt Vice PresiDent, engAgement, UniVersity ADVAncement

While words like “generous,” “leader,”

“inspirational” and “passionate” echoed

throughout the nominations for Stacy Mitz,

one of her colleagues summed it up well:

“Stacy lifts up her team like no one else.

It’s not about her accolades and ego — it’s

about Marquette.”

In her time here, Mitz has developed a

number of alumni engagement programs,

most notably CIRCLES, a business networking

program. Under Mitz’s leadership, the CIRCLES

program expanded to 13 regions and 16 cities

across the country, and has been recognized

with awards from the Council for Advancement

and Support of Education and the Jesuit

Advancement Administrators.

For Mitz, one of the most rewarding

outcomes of this expansion is meeting alumni

across the country.

“I realize that being part of the Marquette

community is special,” Mitz says. “I’ve had the

opportunity on a regular basis to experience

people living the mission of Marquette. This

inspiration drives me to think of my work

as not just a ‘job,’ but as part of my identity.

“It’s a true honor to be recognized by

my colleagues, and it’s a privilege to work

at Marquette.”

tHomAS Wirtz, Director, DentAl informAtics, scHool of Dentistry

As director of dental informatics, it’s no

surprise that Thomas Wirtz is passionate about

technology. However, his colleagues say Wirtz

is more than just passionate — he’s innovative.

“I like trying to find new ways to use

technology to make a person’s work easier or

more productive,” Wirtz says. “It’s rewarding and

encouraging to help people learn a new skill.”

One example of his innovation is the devel-

opment of an after-hours call system. Accessing

patient information after hours without violating

federal Health Insurance Portability and

Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations was a

major problem for the School of Dentistry. Wirtz

developed a system that allowed residents to

securely and easily identify after-hours callers

as patients of record.

Wirtz also helps out colleagues with tech-

nology issues, and according to those who

nominated him, he does it with a smile and

without judgment, whether it’s providing tech-

nology strategy or simply helping to embed a

video into a presentation. They cite his posi-

tivity and helpful demeanor as two of many

reasons Wirtz is deserving of the Excellence

in University Service Award.

“I feel honored,” Wirtz says. “I know there

are many other faculty and staff who, when

they look in the mirror, should see themselves

as winners of this award every day. I’m touched

that my colleagues considered my efforts worthy.”

Annette WolAK, office AssociAte, DePArtment of mecHAnicAl engineering, oPUs college of engineering

Nominations for Annette Wolak called

her “the heart and soul of the Mechanical

Engineering Department” and recognized her

outstanding work ethic. For Wolak, the drive

behind that ethic is simply stated:

“Put on a positive attitude, find something to

smile about and try to make someone’s day,” she

says. “I find that life is so much more rewarding

when you can smile and be helpful. Often it’s

the smallest thing that you do that will alleviate

someone else’s stress and make their day a

little better.”

Wolak covers many responsibilities in

her role as office associate, from day-to-day

operations to supporting faculty and staff

through grant administration, organizing

conferences, proctoring exams, coordinating

schedules, budgeting, and much more. She

credits her colleagues with making her work

exciting and interesting.

“When you have a good team, teamwork is

easy,” Wolak says. “I work for the greatest team

at Marquette. We’re like a well-oiled machine,

and that makes it enjoyable and rewarding to

come to work.”

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Excellence in University Service Award winners for 2015 are (left to right) Dr. Kim Halula, Stacy Mitz, Thomas Wirtz and Annette Wolak.