Biology

The Ogden College of Science and Engineering (OCSE) is pleased to announce the recognition of six faculty in the annual OCSE Faculty Awards.  This year we recognize superb faculty in the categories of Excellence in Teaching, Excellence in Research and Creative Activity, Excellence in Service, Excellence in Advising, Excellence in Part-time Teaching, and Excellence in Teaching by Junior Faculty.

Dr. David Wolfgang from the Chemistry Department is the recipient of the 2023-2024 OCSE Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching.  Dr. Wolfgang came to WKU in 2016 and has taught eleven different courses spanning from the 100-level to the 400-level.  He puts careful thought into making chemistry interesting and accessible to his students across that entire range while truly challenging them to think deeply and critically.  Students describe Dr. Wolfgang as inspiring, enthusiastic, and passionate with an unmatched commitment to his students.

Dr. Rui Zhang from the Chemistry Department is the recipient of the 2023-2024 OCSE Faculty Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Activity.  Dr. Zhang has been at WKU since 2006 and has established an excellent research program focused on gaining a comprehensive understanding of pivotal biological oxidation reactions and discovering highly efficient enzyme-like oxidation catalysts.  Dr. Zhang’s students benefit from hands-on experience in important applications of organic chemistry as he works to build them into strong scientists.  His research group has benefited from four 3-year terms of funding from the NSF for their primary line of research, totaling over $1.1M.  Dr. Zhang and his WKU students have published 29 peer-reviewed papers, and his total body of publications has been cited by others over 2,700 times.  His work is nationally recognized, having recently garnered an invitation to speak at the 2024 Spring National Meeting of the American Chemical Society on “Successful Products & Models of Undergraduate-Based Research:  Good Science, Better Scientists.”

Dr. Richard Shugart from the Mathematics Department is the recipient of the 2023-2024 OCSE Faculty Award for Excellence in Service.  Dr. Schugart joined the Mathematics Department in 2008 and has established a strong record of service to his department, the college, and the university.  Notably, he sponsored the establishment of the WKU Chapter of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) in 2017, shepherded the organization of the WKU Math Symposium from 2017 to 2019, and served as Mathematics MS Program Coordinator from 2019 to 2022, leading the program through the challenges of COVID.  He has also done stints of significant service with nine different professional organizations, including conference organization and journal editing.  Dr. Schugart is currently the Director of the Applied Center for Data Science, having taken the helm in the spring of 2021.

Dr. Natalie Mountjoy from the Biology Department is the recipient of the 2023-2024 OCSE Faculty Award for Excellence in Advising.  Dr. Mountjoy came to WKU in 2017 where she has since directly touched the lives of over 250 undergraduate advisees.  While very organized and efficient in her handling of advisee interactions, each one is designed to be personal and helpful.  Dr. Mountjoy recognizes that advisees are people first, and students second, striving to recognize the humanity in each individual.  She is also their cheerleader and advocate, believing that each student has the capacity to change the world.  One student commented that Dr. Mountjoy has “exceptional impact … in supporting and shaping students’ academic and professional development.”  Beyond individual interactions with advisees, Dr. Mountjoy has also been instrumental in leading the Ogden Retention Committee for the last three years where this group has produced a large number of resources and recommendations to improve advising for students across the college.

Mr. Tyler Baker, PE, Staff Engineer with the School of Engineering and Applied Science is the recipient of the 2023-2024 OCSE Faculty Award for Excellence in Part-time Teaching.  He is a 2016 graduate of WKU’s Civil Engineering program and has been on staff since 2017.  Mr. Baker utilizes project-based learning in the surveying and civil engineering courses he teaches in order to better prepare his students for the complexities of projects they will encounter later as practicing professionals.  His students describe him as student-centered, encouraging, and reliable.  Mr. Baker also serves as an advisor to the WKU Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers and to Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society.

Dr. Joseph Marquardt from the Biology Department is the recipient of the 2023-2024 OCSE Junior Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching.  Dr. Marquardt is a 2010 graduate of WKU and came back as a faculty member in 2022.  In his first few semesters, he has truly hit the ground running.  Dr. Marquardt is a firm believer in student-centered, active learning pedagogy and frequently uses strategies such as “think-pair-share” to help him gauge how well students are grasping material in his classes.  His students indicate he fosters an effective learning environment centered on fairness, communication, attitude and genuine care for his students – even in large lecture courses.  In the laboratory, Dr. Marquardt pushes his students think more deeply to strengthen their understanding of concepts critical to their research work.  In all environments thus far, Dr. Marquardt has excelled in his teaching endeavors.

About the Ogden College of Science and Engineering:

The Ogden College of Science & Engineering (OCSE) encompasses the basic and applied sciences at WKU, offering a broad range of degree programs through our eight Academic Units (Agriculture & Food Science; Biology; Chemistry; Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences; Mathematics; Physics & Astronomy; Psychological Sciences; and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences).  The mission of OCSE is to empower individuals to become leaders through academic achievement, global connections, and engagement in research, education, and service.

Stuart Burris, Associate Dean
270-745-2973
stuart.burris@wku.edu

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