Three Susquehanna University faculty members have been named recipients of two annual teaching awards announced at the 2001 commencement ceremonies.

Associate Professor of Spanish Robert Mowry received the John C. Horn Distinguished Service Lectureship. Assistant Professor of Biology Tammy Tobin-Janzen and Professor of English Gary Fincke, director of The Writers' Institute, were recipients of the Susquehanna University Teaching Award.

Mowry began teaching at Susquehanna in 1962, having received a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and a master's and doctorate degrees from Middlebury College.

"He has had a passion from the time he expressed interest in a faculty position here to be a mediator to students, colleagues, and others of the subjects that have been at the heart of his teaching and scholarship for almost 40 years: Spanish language, literature, and culture," said Warren Funk, vice president for academic affairs.

Named for John C. Horn, a long-time member and chair of the board of the directors of the University, the award recognizes a faculty member for outstanding scholarship and conscientious service to the University. The recipient offers a public lecture in the following academic year.

Tobin-Janzen joined the faculty in 1994 and holds a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and a doctorate from Texas A & M University.

"Since coming to Susquehanna, she has established a reputation for exciting and imaginative teaching that has earned enthusiasm and accolades from her students and the admiration of her colleagues," said Funk. "Across a wide range of subject matters, unusual in this day of highly specialized research, she has taught effectively and collaborated with student researchers in her area of genetics and also in immunology and microbiology."

Fincke joined the faculty in 1980 and holds a bachelor's degree from Thiel College, a master's degree from Miami University, and a doctorate from Kent State University.

Funk called Fincke a "prolific, working writer, widely recognized among both his author peers and a growing reading public for his poetry, short fiction, and essays."

Founder of the Visiting Writers Series at the University, Fincke is known as a "deeply committed, effective teacher of writers," said Funk. Since 1984, Fincke has published 11 collections of poetry, three collections of short stories and a novel and his poetry has been published in more than 50 venues.

Awards are determined by open nominations from faculty and, in the case of the Teaching Award, also from the Student Government Association.

Barbara Feldmann: Hanging up Triple Hats

A woman of many hats at Susquehanna for 31 years, Barbara Feldmann will be retiring late this summer from her current University posts as director of tutorial services, Act 101 coordinator, and managing editor and assistant director of the S.U. Press.

Barbara Feldmann is retiring after more than 30 years of service to the University.

Feldmann, who holds a B.A. from Carlow College and a M.A. from University of Maryland, both in English, began at Susquehanna in 1970 as a part-time instructor in English a year after her husband, Hans, now a professor emeritus, joined the full-time faculty. As the school evolved, she took on a variety of other positions, including advisor to the Crusader for seven years.

"In some cases I've been doing things that were kind of a stretch, but they were fun to learn about," she says. "But what I have really enjoyed is working with the students - I think I will really miss a lot of the informal contacts, like the pizza parties and the tutor picnics, as well as the more formal times," she adds. "It's been very satisfying to see how kids make the adjustment to college and learn how to study and do really well."

She is taking early retirement partly to be able to assist her oldest son and his wife, both doctors, with care for their young family while her son completes a one-year fellowship in sports medicine at the University of Wisconsin.

She and Hans, who will retire as director of the S.U. Press at the end of the year, also look forward to more time to travel, attend the theatre, and keep in touch with their other two children - a son who is a pilot for American Airlines and daughter, an editor with M.I.T. Press. And Barbara also hopes to try her hand at writing children's literature. Selinsgrove, she says, will remain their home base. "We have fond memories and have made a lot of good friends here over the years."