Six faculty and staff members earn Chancellor’s Citations

Monday, February 10, 2003, By News Staff

Six faculty and staff members earn Chancellor’s CitationsFebruary 10, 2003Matthew R. Snydermrsnyder@syr.edu

In a Feb. 12 ceremony at the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel and Conference Center, Chancellor Kenneth A. Shaw presented Chancellor’s Citations for Distinguished Service and for Exceptional Academic Achievement to six faculty and staff members. The 2003 honorees are Margaret M. Austin, associate director of budget and administration in the Center for Policy Research; Colleen O’Connor Bench, director of the Parents Office; Rosemary O’Leary, professor of public administration; Francis McMillan Parks, director of Students Offering Service and African American Programs at Hendricks Chapel; Sheldon Leslie Stone, professor of physics; and Steven J. Taylor, director of the Center on Human Policy and professor of cultural foundations of education.

  • Colleen O’Connor Bench :  For Colleen O’Connor Bench, interruptions are an expected part of her job. Every phone call or knock on her door might bring a new task that demands her immediate attention. As the director of the Parents Office at Syracuse University, Bench is an important part of the University’s response to student crises, so it is not surprising that she instinctively went into worry mode when she was interrupted in the middle of an important meeting. [more]

  • Francis McMillan Park :  In polite conversation with Francis McMillan Parks, one sees no outward trappings of superheroine status – no masked visage, no emblazoned symbols, no flying about. But mention her to Hendricks Chapel Dean Thomas V. Wolfe, and he’s quick to explain how Parks sets an extraordinary example for would-be heroes. [more]

  • Margaret M. Austin :  “Peggy Austin is tops.” It’s a simple statement that encapsulates a wealth of praise directed toward the associate director for budget and administration at the Maxwell School’s Center for Policy Research (CPR). In making the statement, Timothy Smeeding, director of CPR and Maxwell Professor of Public Policy, successfully nominated Margaret M. “Peggy” Austin for one of Syracuse University’s highest honors, the Chancellor’s Citation for Distinguished Service. [more]

  • Rosemary O’Leary :  Rosemary O’Leary has always been concerned about humankind’s impact on the environment. In the 1980s, she put this concern into practice as an environmental attorney, and rose to become the number two person in Kansas’ Department of Health and Environment. But she felt she could have a greater impact after earning a doctorate in public administration, so she came to SU’s Maxwell School. Now she is a Maxwell professor and one of the top scholars in the country on the effects of the courts on public administration and alternatives to litigation to solve environmental problems. [more]

  • Sheldon Leslie Stone :  Syracuse University physicist Sheldon Stone has dedicated his career to unraveling the secrets hidden in the tiniest forms of matter; secrets that may someday help scientists understand how the universe was formed. He is renowned as one of the world’s foremost experts on the physics of heavy or beauty quarks. For his accomplishments in the field of particle physics, Stone will receive a Chancellor’s Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement. [more]

  • Steven J. Taylor :  When Steven J. Taylor came to SU as a graduate student in 1971, he was inspired by the Center on Human Policy’s (CHP) legendary founding director, Burton Blatt. Taylor found his niche at the CHP, developing and integrating sociological approaches to helping people with disabilities. The training, research and advocacy performed by the center’s staff and the CHP’s service to people with disabilities proved to be a good match for Taylor. [more]