Powell Named CWU PKP Scholar Of The Year

May 19, 2004

Contact: Barry Donahue (509-963-1714/fax 509-963-1206/e-mail: donahue@cwu.edu)

ELLENSBURG, Wash.-- Joe Powell, Central Washington University English professor, has been named scholar of the year by the university chapter of Phi Kappa Phi (PKP) honor society, according to Dr. Barry Donahue, CWU chapter president.

"Professor Powell has been an extremely productive scholar and has the reputation among both students and peers as an excellent teacher," Donahue says. "He has earned a national reputation as a poet due to his strong record of publishing and reading of his work."

The award is presented annually to a member of the CWU faculty making exceptional contributions to his or her own scholarly field, who also places a strong emphasis on intellectual breadth that makes their work of interest to the larger academic community, Donahue says.

Powell will receive the 2003-04 award Tuesday, May 25, at 4 p.m. in Black 152 on the Ellensburg campus. At the ceremony, Powell will also make a presentation titled "Scholarship and Poetry," focusing on the relationship between scholars and poets, as defined by poets themselves, especially within the discipline of literary studies. He will also read several of his own poems.

"Joe has, for 20 years, contributed a scholar's understanding and a poet's vision to the curriculum of the English department," Patsy Callaghan, CWU English department chair, adds.

Powell, an Ellensburg native, incorporates names and places that residents, particularly of the Kittitas Valley, can relate to. His poetry has a feeling of familiarity, and he chooses topics that he feels strongly about.

His works include "Counting the Change," published in 1986; "Winter Insomnia," 1993; and "Getting Here," 1997, for which he was honored by the Quarterly Review of Literature as one of only five winners in the periodical's poetry book contest. In addition, Powell has penned three chat books: "Aegean Dialogue," "A Ring in the Air" and "The Greatest Hits."

PKP honor society is the oldest and largest U.S. collegiate honor society, recognizing and promoting superior scholarship in all higher education academic disciplines. The CWU chapter was established in 1976.

CWU juniors, who are scholastically in the top seven percent of their class, and seniors, who are scholastically in the upper 10 percent of their class, are eligible for membership. In addition, a limited number of faculty and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction are invited to become members.

For more information about the free, public PKP awards ceremony and presentation, or for persons of disability to arrange for reasonable accommodation, call (509) 963-1714, or (for the hearing impaired) TDD (509) 963-2143.