CWU Board of Trustees honors 2023 Distinguished Faculty recipients

Each year, the Central Washington University Board of Trustees recognizes outstanding CWU faculty members as Distinguished Faculty.

This great honor reflects CWU educators' hard work and dedication to academia through teaching, scholarship, and public service.

The Trustees approved this year's four awardees on Friday, May 19, during their quarterly meeting. They are:

• Dr. Megan Walsh, Geography - Distinguished Faculty for Teaching
• Dr. Lily Vuong, Religious Studies - Distinguished Faculty for Scholarship
• Dr. Sharryn Walker, Literacy - Distinguished Faculty for Service
• Dr. Eric Graham, Craft Brewing - Distinguished Faculty Non-Tenure Track Teaching

Each recognized faculty member will receive an award of $2,500 and have their names added to an on-campus plaque commemorating award recipients since the tradition began in 1977.

Read more about this year's honorees below, and please join us in congratulating them for this monumental achievement.

Dr. Megan Walsh

Distinguished Faculty for Teaching

Since Dr. Megan Walsh arrived at CWU in 2010, she has cultivated a reputation for excellence in teaching. The energy and passion she brings to her classroom and field experiences inspire students to think outside the box and pursue innovation in all they do. Over the years, Dr. Walsh has taught 15 different courses in geography, plus four interdisciplinary programs. She sees beyond the walls of her classroom in her teaching, preparing students for success in her classes and their careers.

"My primary duty, as I see it, is to make sure I am teaching students what they need to know to not only succeed in my courses, but also in their chosen professions and in their lives after they complete their degree at CWU," Walsh said.

Walsh specializes in paleoecology, or the study of past environments to inform present-day conclusions about climate change and related events. In her capacity as a professor, she has mentored close to 100 students in this work, and engaged many more through the frequent field trips her classes take into nature to witness the subject of their studies firsthand. Many students count Walsh's field trips as among their most memorable experiences at CWU. Some have even said that working with her in the lab or field changed the course of their lives.

Dr. Lily Vuong

Distinguished Faculty for Scholarship

The work of Dr. Lily Vuong is that of a consummate scholar, and one of the world's foremost experts on early Christian literature and apocrypha. Since joining CWU in 2015 as an associate professor of Religious Studies, her incredible research output has included one translation with commentary, one scholarly monograph, three edited volumes (for a total of five books), nine articles and book chapters, and too many conference papers to count. Her research shows no sign of slowing down, as she is currently working on two additional books, one translation, and seven articles. All of this active research is a great benefit to Vuong's students, who enjoy classes designed with an inquisitive and research-based approach in mind.

In addition to her scholarly exploits, Vuong is the current vice president and president-elect for the North American Society for the Study of Christian Apocryphal Literature. She has also been elected to prestigious research fellowships at the University of Regensburg in Germany and the International Catacomb Society, which supported her archeological work in Rome, Ephesus (Turkey), and Jerusalem in 2019-20.

One letter of support from Janet Spittler of the University of Virginia sums up Vuong's incredible body of work.

"It is sometimes the case that colleges and universities are unaware that they have an absolute gem in their midst," Spittler wrote. "I hope that Lily will be given the recognition she deserves at her home institution-recognition that is in line with her stellar international reputation."

Dr. Sharryn Walker

Distinguished Faculty for Service

The impact of Dr. Sharryn Walker on CWU and Ellensburg communities cannot be overstated. As the mastermind behind Family Literacy Nights-an ongoing series of community events promoting literacy and providing teacher candidates an opportunity to practice their craft-her work has touched the lives of thousands since she joined the CWU faculty in 2007. These events, with the support of a broad variety of local partners and agencies, have been very successful, and they continue to enrich the lives of community members and students alike. In addition to this work, Walker is involved with the International Literacy Association, and she provides mentorship to teaching students getting immersed in the ins and outs of the classroom experience.

Walker, in her personal statement, writes of how visits to her local library instilled in her a love of learning and a passion for reading. The Mexihacah word for "a land of books" is "amoxtlalpan." This word serves as a foundation for Walker's love of literacy and her commitment to the goal of our society becoming an "amoxtlalpan," a society of readers; of people who love reading.

Dr. Eric Graham

Distinguished Faculty Non-Tenure Track Teaching

CWU's Craft Brewing program has tripled its enrollment in the last three years thanks to the efforts of Dr. Eric Graham, who was named director of the program in 2020. A CWU faculty member since 2015, Graham's enthusiasm and inquisitive approach to teaching continues to be inspiration for his students and coworkers alike. One colleague praised his work by saying "it is impossible to overestimate the attention, inspiration, and rare opportunities for hands-on research and field experience that Dr. Graham has given our students."

Graham has developed and taught more than 19 undergraduate and graduate courses in biology, craft brewing, environmental studies, and as part of the Science Talent Expansion Program (STEP). In addition to this broad variety of classes, he has also helped to diversify the craft brewing program through outreach to underrepresented communities and the creation of course materials in Spanish. Graham has mentored many students, including those outside of his program, through research into subjects like identifying optimal yeast strains for bread and the development of an app to analyze the trees on CWU's Ellensburg campus.

This Distinguished Faculty Non-Tenure Track Teaching award acknowledges Graham's exceptional dedication to teaching, mentoring, and care for student success.