Three Years of Excellence Honored at President's Awards Ceremony

Seven smiling people, some holding awards certificate, stand in a row on a stage next to an American flag
Some of the President’s Excellence Award for Teaching winners — Stephanie Affinito, Christopher Pastore, Samantha Friedman, Carmen Serrano and Mark Hughes — pose between Provost Carol Kim, left, and President Rodríguez. (Photos by Patrick Dodson)

ALBANY, N.Y. (May 5, 2022) — Forty-seven members of the University’s faculty and staff were honored with the President’s Excellence Award in a special ceremony earlier this week that marked the return to an in-person celebration.

President Rodríguez noted that the annual event highlighting the positive impact of faculty and staff had been put on hold for two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Today we are recognizing and celebrating not only the awardees for this year, but also those faculty and staff awardees from 2020 and 2021 whose public acknowledgement had to be postponed until now because of pandemic restrictions and protocols.”

The annual awards ceremony began in 1978, recognizing the University’s support staff. Since then, the award has grown to six categories: teaching, research and creative activities, librarianship, academic service, professional service and support service.

“What makes any university great is the degree to which it strives for excellence in everything it does,” the president said. “And the essential agents for achieving excellence are an institution’s people — our students, faculty and staff, together with our alumni, supporters and friends … We are grateful for your outstanding contribution to our institution, and for your example in modeling the attitudes and behaviors that support us all to have a positive impact as members of our university community.”

2020 Awardees

President’s Excellence Award in Teaching:

  • Abigail Kleinsmith, Department of Psychology
  • Andrea Kordzek, School of Criminal Justice
  • Christopher Pastore, Department of History
  • Christine Vassallo-Oby, Latin American, Caribbean & U.S. Latino Studies/Academic Support Center

President’s Excellence Award in Research and Creative Activities:

President Rodriguez walks across a stage with Delores Cimini and her white guide dog Dora
Dolores Cimini won a President’s Excellence Award in Research and Creative Activities for 2020, as director of the Center for Behavioral Health Promotion and Applied Research.
  • Dolores Cimini, Center for Behavioral Health Promotion & Applied Research
  • Christine Wagner, Department of Psychology

President’s Excellence Award in Professional Service:

  • Noelle Angelozzi, Office of Financial Management & Budget
  • Brad Bunzey, Office of Architecture, Engineering & Construction
  • Ann Gunning, University Libraries
  • Jason Jones, Office of Parking & Mass Transit Services
  • Mary Kay Skrabalak, Educational Opportunity Program
  • Barbara Zampella, Department of Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences

President’s Excellence Award in Librarianship:

  • Rebecca Nous, University Libraries

President’s Excellence Award in Support Service:

  • Marlene Bauman, Residential Life
  • John McGuire, University Police Department
  • Alina Mikula, Facilities Management
  • Kim Nava, Writing & Critical Inquiry Program

President’s Excellence Award in Academic Service:

  • Joette Stefl-Mabry, College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity

2021 Awardees

President’s Excellence Award in Teaching:

  • Stephanie Affinito, Department of Literacy Teaching and Learning
  • Samantha Friedman, Department of Sociology
  • Carmen Serrano, Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures

President’s Excellence Award in Research and Creative Activities:

President Rodriguez, his back to the camera, shakes the hand of a smiling Jeanette Altarriba during an awards ceremony.
College of Arts and Sciences Dean Jeanette Altarriba is congratulated by President Rodríguez for her 2021 Excellence Award in Research and Creative Activities. It was Altarriba’s third Excellence Award; she previously won in both the teaching and service categories.
  • Jeanette Altarriba, College of Arts and Sciences/Department of Psychology
  • Prashanth Rangan, Department of Biological Sciences
  • Eli Rosenberg, Department of Epidemiology and Statistics

President’s Excellence Award in Professional Service:

  • Tara Evans, Center for International Education and Global Strategies
  • Leandra Harris, Residential Life
  • Merissa Mabee, Human Resources Management

President’s Excellence Award in Librarianship:

  • Irina Holden, University Libraries

President’s Excellence Award in Support Service:

  • Susan Walsh, Student Affairs

2022 AWARDEES

President’s Excellence Award in Teaching:

  • Maeve Kane, Department of History
  • Mark Hughes, School of Business

President’s Excellence Award in Research and Creative Activities:

  • Mathias Vuille, Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences
  • Rabi Musah, Department of Chemistry
  • Robert Rosenswig, Department of Anthropology
  • Antun Milas, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
  • Yiming Ying, Department of Mathematics and Statistics

President’s Excellence Award in Professional Service:

  • Kevin Wilcox, Enterprise Risk Management and Compliance
  • Nelly Bonilla, Office of Financial Aid
  • Aaron McCloskey, Office of HR Management
  • Brian Stephenson, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Pamela Alexander, Student Activities

President’s Excellence Award in Librarianship:

  • Gregory Wiedeman, University Libraries

President’s Excellence Award in Support Service:

  • Marcy Casavant, Intercultural Student Engagement
  • James Hardy, Facilities

President’s Excellence Award in Academic Service:

  • Sheila Curran Bernard, Department of History
  • Karin Reinhold, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
  • Suraj Commuri, School of Business