May 13, 2002
Contact: Greg Kummer (509-963-1423/fax 509-963-2301/e-mail: campusbullet@cwu.edu)
ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Central Washington University’s 2002-03 Distinguished Professor award recipients are: David Darda, biological sciences, Teaching; Mark Halperin, English, Research/Artistic Accomplishment and Invention; and Corwin King, communication, Public Service. Awards will be presented at Honors Convocation June 7.
Darda didn’t dream of becoming a teacher, but as a graduate student he began to realize that it was fun and he was somewhat of a natural.
“As a zoology graduate student at a major research institution, I came to realize that the times I felt most at peace, most comfortable and just plain enjoyed myself were the times I was in the classroom teaching,” Darda said. “…Research would be secondary; talking with students about biology — teaching — was first.”
David Hosford, chair of the CWU biological sciences department, said Darda is “an outstanding teacher who is never completely satisfied and is continually updating and modifying courses to make them more interesting and challenging to students.”
Darda’s research specialties are vertebrate morphology and herpetology. He has published a number of papers on amphibians and reptiles and continues to encourage professional activities of both undergraduate and graduate students in this field. In 1990, he received the “Excellence in Teaching Award,” presented by the CWU Parents Council. Darda has been at CWU since 1987.
Halperin, as a poet of national stature, has published six collections of original poetry, each issued by a different major publisher.
His work has been included in a substantial number of literary anthologies, including “Strong Measures: Recent American Poems in Traditional Forms”; and “Deep Down Things: Poems of the Inland Pacific Northwest.” Also, individual poems have appeared in prestigious journals and literary magazines, including Yale Review, Shenandoah, North American Review and Poetry Now. Halperin also is a translator of Russian texts, a career direction that has become increasingly prolific in recent years. He has made several trips to Russia and worked with Russian authors.
Liahna Armstrong, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, says: “Anyone who participates in a conversation with him comes away enriched. His creativity is not merely to write memorable work, but to inspire others to moments of insight and imaginative felicity.”
Halperin, who has been a member of CWU’s English department since 1967, has received honors which include: Mt. Holyoke College’s Glasscock Award for Poetry, the United States Award of the International Poetry Forum, the Emily Clark Balach Prize given by the “Virginia Quarterly Review” and an Artist Trust Grant.
King might be easily recognized as a classroom teacher, administrator and CWU’s on-campus commencement narrator, but he also is noted for his many public service activities.
Professor Emeritus Wolfgang Franz says King’s “many hours of service have been joyously and generously given and he makes himself available and helpful when there is a need. It is this attitude and his great sense of humor that make him so effective… Professor King is a person of the highest standards and integrity who has a strong commitment to the betterment of society.”
As an active member in the Ellensburg Rotary Club for more than 20 years, King has served as president, on the board of directors, with many committees and as an assistant governor for the local Rotary International District. He also has been involved with Ellensburg School District events, youth soccer coaching, Boy Scouts, church groups, United Way campaign, the American Legion State Oratorical Contest and the Ellensburg Children’s Activity Museum. He has been a frequent guest columnist in the Ellensburg Daily Record, conveying the messages about CWU students faculty, workload, tenure…
On campus, in addition to his teaching and administrative duties, King has participated in: recruiting efforts, organizing the Public Relations Student Society of America, establishing contacts for an exchange program with Napier University in Scotland, advising student organizations and serving on committees including cooperative education advisory, inaugural planning, faculty grievance and strategic planning. King has been at Central since 1976.
