Five faculty members will be honored for their exceptional achievements during the University’s 2009 Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 17.

Awards will be presented for outstanding accomplishments in the areas of teaching, scholarship, service, and contributions to the All-University Curriculum. In addition, the first-ever Belle K. Ribicoff Junior Faculty Prize will be awarded.

David Pines, associate professor of civil, environmental and biomedical engineering in the College of Engineering, Technology and Architecture (CETA), will receive the Roy E. Larsen Award for Excellence in Teaching. Pines spent more than a decade as a practicing engineer before joining the CETA faculty. His engineering experience has brought an increased emphasis on practical applications to the engineering curriculum. Pines receives high marks for his classroom teaching, but it is the lessons his students learn outside the classroom that may have the most profound impact. Working through Engineers Without Borders (EWB ), Pines and his students designed and installed a solar-powered well and a rooftop rainwater collection system to bring a clean, sustainable water supply to residents of Abheypur, India. That project has now expanded well beyond CETA, involving students from other schools and colleges at the University, as well as area high school students and professional engineers. Pines is now working with Provost Lynn Pasquerella and their colleagues at several other schools on an even more comprehensive project for a village in Kenya.

Katie Stevinson-Nollet, assistant professor of dance at The Hartt School, will be presented with the James E. and Frances W. Bent Award for Scholarly and/or Artistic Creativity. In addition to being a faculty member, Stevinson-Nollet is the artistic director of Full Force Dance Theatre, the resident dance company at The Hartt School. One of New England’s most recognized and accomplished choreographers, Stevinson-Nollet’s work has been performed at numerous venues and festivals in the region and across the U.S. She has received overwhelmingly favorable reviews for both her dancing and her choreography, and her work has received numerous honors and awards. Stevinson-Nollet is a gifted teacher whose dance classes have been described as “superb examples of organized, inspired and thoughtful dance instruction.” Many of her students have gone on to join prestigious dance companies.

Karen Lucas Breda, associate professor of nursing in the College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions (ENHP), will receive the Oscar and Shoshana Trachtenberg Award for Sustained Service to the University. Breda is director of Project Horizon, a community service program that places nursing students and other members of the University community in homeless shelters, soup kitchens, neighborhood and transitional living centers, and schools in Greater Hartford. Breda’s students, who are all registered nurses, spend six hours a week for an entire academic year treating clients in these community settings and helping them improve the quality of their lives. By working with these vulnerable clients, Breda’s students develop a deep understanding of their individual needs as well as the cultural, political, and economic forces that have a profound impact on their health. Breda, who is both a trained anthropologist and a nurse with an extensive clinical background, is also a highly respected researcher who works with international colleagues to help shape the future of health care.

Karen Barrett – who wears many different hats, including director of the All-University Curriculum – will be presented with the Donald W. Davis All-University Curriculum Award. Barrett also serves as an assistant professor and director of the Clinical Laboratory Science program in ENHP, and as associate dean of undergraduate studies. Barrett helped to create the All-University Curriculum (AUC), a program of innovative interdisciplinary courses. She co-created and taught the first interdisciplinary course on HIV/AIDS at the University of Hartford in 1987. The course, AUCT 140 Epidemic and AIDS, was recognized by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and was included in its National Leadership Resource Database. AUCT 140 remains a pillar of the All-University Curriculum today. Barrett became AUC director in 1996 and has guided the program’s growth and development ever since. She has worked tirelessly with colleagues across the University to evolve and expand the curriculum as students’ needs and interests have changed. She also has effectively promoted the AUC outside the University through scholarly publications and presentations, gaining national recognition for the program.

Michael Robinson, assistant professor of history at Hillyer College, has been selected to receive the first-ever Belle K. Ribicoff Junior Faculty Prize. The prize, together with an endowed chair for junior faculty, were established this year through a generous gift from Belle K. Ribicoff, a long-time supporter and life regent of the University. Robinson, a highly-respected authority on exploration, has been invited to speak at some of the most prestigious gatherings of scholars in the world. His critically acclaimed book, The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture, was awarded the 2008 Book Prize by the Forum for the History of Science in America. An exhibition based on the book, which Robinson curated, is currently on display at the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine.

Read more about Michael Robinson and the new Belle K. Ribicoff Junior Faculty Prize.