CWU celebrates 2026 Distinguished Faculty

Every spring, the Central Washington University Board of Trustees (BOT) recognizes faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, research, and service by presenting the Distinguished Faculty awards.

CWU started the program in 1977 to honor professors who excel in these three key areas. The honorees' names are placed on a continuing plaque, and they also receive a monetary bonus during the award year.

The Distinguished Faculty Awards Screening Committee receives nominations and letters of support from within and beyond the CWU community in order to pass on recommendations for the awards to the board. This year’s nominees were unanimously approved at the May 21-22 BOT meeting:

Dr. Bret Smith

Professor of Music Dr. Bret Smith has been teaching at CWU since 2005, and he has shown an exceptional and ongoing commitment to service that has left a significant impact on the Department of Music, the College of Arts and Humanities, the university, and the broader professional community.

His career reflects a strong and consistent “service mindset” that combines leadership, institutional growth, and professional involvement to enhance systems that support student learning, faculty collaboration, and the advancement of music education.

Dr. Smith’s service at CWU is impressive in both its scope and depth, spanning more than 20 years across departmental, college, university, and professional fields. In the Department of Music, he has served as the Music Education Coordinator, Departmental Assessment Coordinator, and Associate Chair, while also leading curriculum and music education committees and numerous search and personnel committees.

One of his key contributions was acting as the primary author of the National Association of Schools of Music accreditation self-study, ensuring the department met rigorous national standards. His work in accreditation, curriculum alignment, and assessment systems has strengthened the department’s programs and helped them create long-term sustainability and lasting success.

Dr. Smith has held several influential leadership roles that have shaped institutional processes and policies. As University Assessment Coordinator from 2012 to 2021, he played a key role in guiding the development and implementation of assessment systems that support institutional effectiveness and accreditation. He also served as CWU’s Faculty Legislative Representative, advocating for higher education and strengthening connections between the university and state policymakers. His involvement in Faculty Senate committees, strategic planning initiatives, accreditation work groups, and university task forces reflects an enduring commitment to shared governance and institutional improvement.

Dr. Smith’s service also extends meaningfully beyond the university into the wider field of music education. He has served as a consultant to organizations such as the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB), and national assessment initiatives.

A key aspect of Dr. Smith’s service is developing and leading innovative programs that benefit students, educators, and communities. For example, he created and coordinated a summer master’s program in music education, enabling practicing teachers to earn a graduate degree while maintaining their professional careers — a program that has served approximately 100 teachers and enhanced CWU’s regional reputation in music education.

Dr. Smith’s career exemplifies the highest ideals of faculty service. His leadership in accreditation, assessment, governance, program development, and professional engagement has strengthened CWU and greatly contributed to music education at the state and national levels.

Cassandra Koefod

Senior Lecturer Cassandra (Cassie) Koefod’s work in the CWU College of Business exemplifies what a teacher should be in ways that go beyond the classroom, helping her earn respect from both students and colleagues.

Ms. Koefod has demonstrated depth and breadth of knowledge in teaching across quantitative and applied fields, showing a deep understanding of economics, statistical reasoning, and modern analytical tools. In 2025, she co-authored three publications in the field of economics, demonstrating explicitly her involvement within the field and a working knowledge of its academic discourse.

She is also active as a consultant outside of academia, allowing her to engage both as an academic and a practitioner. This experience has given her a deep understanding of the workings of her field, along with an ability to provide real-world examples and datasets in the classroom.

This real-world engagement with her subject area is part of a larger trend in Ms. Koefod’s work. She is not only staying current in her field; she also continues to hone her pedagogical skills, consistently pursuing new opportunities for professional improvement. She received her IBM Data Analyst Professional Certificate in 2024, which she completed “to ensure that my teaching reflects current best practices, emerging technologies, and evolving industry standards.”

In the classroom, whether online or in-person, Ms. Koefod’s materials point to continued excellence in teaching. Her work is student-centered and scaffolded, incorporating a range of high-impact practices that guide students toward mastery and a deep, working knowledge of course topics. Her nomination letter points to how she helps students gain mastery of difficult subjects and skills through real-world examples and providing the right balance of encouragement and challenge.

Ms. Koefod’s excellent teaching is further demonstrated in her service to her department by teaching a wide range of courses, from ECON 101 to BUAN 507. She has created two courses for her department and also serves as the College in the High School Liaison for her department.

When it comes to her students, Cassie Koefod’s current and former pupils continually point to her care for her subject area and for them, making her courses engaging, challenging, and incredibly practical. One student, writing about the videos and slides from class, commented: “These resources were incredibly effective in capturing our attention, breaking down complex concepts, and stimulating interaction. They really helped in keeping the class engaged and encouraged active participation throughout the lessons.”

Dr. Dominic Klyve

Professor of Mathematics Dr. Dominic Klyve has built a record of research productivity, intellectual range, student engagement, and national and international reputation that places him among the most accomplished scholars during his 16-year tenure at CWU.

One of the most compelling features of Dr. Klyve’s scholarly career is the extraordinary productivity and impact of his research program. He has published over 90 peer-reviewed publications and patents, along with additional works of scholarly writing, curricular projects, and expository pieces. This level of output is rare in any discipline, but it is especially noteworthy in mathematics, where publication norms typically involve a slower rate of production and where each article requires substantial advances in theory or method.

Within the field of mathematics alone, Dr. Klyve’s contributions to number theory, the history of mathematics, and mathematics education would constitute an exemplary career. However, he has simultaneously sustained active research agendas in applied statistics, biomedical data science, Shakespeare studies, linguistics, and the digital humanities. His work appears in publications and journals as varied as the American Mathematical Monthly, Mathematics of Computation, IEEE Sensors, The Journal of the American Heart Association, Shakespeare Quarterly, and Historiographia Linguistica. Few scholars can claim an impact footprint that crosses so many academic domains while maintaining rigor, originality, and peer-reviewed recognition in each.

The wide reach of Dr. Klyve’s scholarship is also reflected in its citation record. According to his Google Scholar profile, his publications have been cited 636 times, demonstrating substantive engagement with his work across multiple fields. This pattern of citation further confirms that his scholarship is not only prolific but influential. 

A second hallmark of Dr. Klyve’s scholarly profile is the degree to which he incorporates students into his research. He has supervised 37 undergraduate research projects and served on 13 master’s thesis committees, four of which he chaired. His publication record includes 18 peer-reviewed papers co-authored with undergraduates — an unusually high number in mathematics and a clear demonstration of his belief that students can meaningfully engage in authentic research. 

His commitment to mentoring has been recognized through multiple awards, including the 2022 National Faculty Mentoring Award from the Council on Undergraduate Research and the 2014 SOURCE Mentor of the Year Award at CWU. The letters from former students consistently describe him as a mentor who not only teaches students research techniques but also helps them build the confidence, resilience, and independence needed to flourish.

Among his other accomplishments, Dr. Klyve stands out for his substantial contributions to the mathematical community and broader scholarly infrastructure. He has served as Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor, and Editorial Board member of the College Mathematics Journal, one of the Mathematical Association of America’s flagship publications. 

Equally significant is his work as Lead Principal Investigator for the National Science Foundation-funded project TRIUMPHS (Transforming Instruction in Undergraduate Mathematics via Primary Historical Sources). This $1.5 million grant supported the development of curricular materials that integrate original historical documents into undergraduate mathematics instruction — an innovative approach that has now been adopted at 109 institutions across the United States and Canada.

Taken together, Dr. Klyve’s publication record, grant activity, interdisciplinary reach, international reputation, mentorship of students, and substantial service to the scholarly community present a profile of academic accomplishment that is unmatched in scope and distinction.