North Central College faculty and staff receive awards for outstanding work

Eight North Central College faculty and administrative staff were recognized this spring with awards for their outstanding teaching, leadership, scholarship and administrative service for the 2015-2016 academic year.  

Among those awards are two faculty honors for distinguished teaching by part-time and adjunct half-time faculty. The two award recipients are:

Karina Duncker-Hoffmann (left), lecturer in English, received the Distinguished Teaching Award for part-time faculty. She has worked at North Central since 2008, and has taught in Italy, Japan and Germany. She earned her B.A. and M.A. from the University of Hamburg.

Jeff Woodruff (right), adjunct assistant professor of business administration, received the Distinguished Teaching Award for adjunct half-time faculty. A faculty member since 1979, he received a B.A. from Springfield College and an M.B.A. from New York Institute of Technology.   

Six award recipients—four faculty and two staff members—were presented with endowed awards established in memory of two North Central College alumni—Clarence F. Dissinger, Class of 1921, and his sister Ruth C. Dissinger Althaus, Class of 1922.

These Dissinger award recipients are:

Marco Martinez (left), assistant professor of mathematics, received the Clarence F. Dissinger Award for Junior Faculty. Martinez joined the faculty in 2013 and earned his B.S. in biology and a B.S in mathematics from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and an M.S in statistics and Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Sarah Lureau (right), associate professor of accounting, received the Clarence F. Dissinger Award for Senior Faculty. A member of the faculty since 2008, she received tenure in 2014. She earned her B.S. from Marist College and M.A.S. from Northern Illinois University.

Dorothy Pleas (left), director of multicultural affairs, received the Ruth C. Dissinger Award for Administrative Manager. She came to North Central in 2010 and earned her B.S. from Vanderbilt University and an M.S. from Southwestern College.

June Johnson (right), interlibrary loan and reference services assistant, received the Ruth C. Dissinger Award for Administrative Support Staff. After working at the Bolingbrook Public Library for five years, she came to North Central in 1994 to be involved in the interlibrary loan system.

Jonathon Kirk (left), assistant professor of music, received the Dissinger Prize for Faculty Scholarship. The award recognizes his nine works this past year in the categories of music composition, multimedia and sound art, refereed articles, and conference and festival presentations. He came to North Central in 2010 after earning a B.A. from Augustana College, an M.M. from Eastman School of Music, an M.A. from Brown University and a D.Mus. from Northwestern University.

Steve Macek (right), professor of communication, received Dissinger Award for Distinguished Service by Senior Faculty. The award recognizes extraordinary, ongoing service that benefits the College community. Macek has provided leadership and advocacy in campus initiatives concerning issues at the heart of faculty governance and professional wellbeing. A member of the faculty since 2002, he earned his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.