Provost Dan Bernardo was honored to welcome 13 WSU faculty members to Martin Stadium throughout the home football schedule for Featured Faculty recognition. Faculty play a central role in our land grant mission, and it’s our pleasure to pay tribute to their hard work and dedication.
“Athletic events provide a great opportunity to give visibility to our faculty and the academic enterprise, as a whole,” Bernardo says. “Having the attention of 38,000 loyal alumni and friends of WSU and shining a light on these deserving faculty is one of the most effective faculty recognition activities that we have developed over the past couple of years.”
Our faculty members proved to be good luck charms in 2017 as our Cougars posted a perfect 7-0 record at Martin Stadium and set a school record for most home victories in a season.
Radha Nandagopal admits she had never been to a football game – ever – but she enjoyed a thrilling victory over USC.
“My husband and others explained to me that it was a big deal that we beat USC,” says Nandagopal, a professor in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.
Her connections to WSU run deep. She’s a Spokane native, and is now working alongside some of her former professors from when she was a student in the WAMI program. She’s thoroughly enjoying her work with the first class of WSU medical students.
“It’s really exciting to have eager, enthusiastic students to teach” Nandagopal says. “They’re really engaged and excited about partnering with us. It’s a privilege to work with them.”
George Jiang witnessed the most dramatic victory of the season – the overtime triumph over Boise State on Sept. 9. He was thrilled to experience Martin Stadium’s energy.
“Standing by the sideline during the game and feeding off the excitement and enthusiasm of our students, I was reminded again of how lucky we are and how much responsibility we have as educators,” says Jiang, a professor of finance in the Carson College of Business. “It was a great honor and tremendous experience to be recognized by Provost Bernardo.”
As a longtime instructor, Deb Nelson is rarely recognized for her outstanding work publicly. But after a few moments in the spotlight during WSU’s win over Nevada, Nelson says people on campus took notice.
“It was fun to go to the game and see the Cougars win, but it was amazing how many colleagues and students came up to me afterwards and said congratulations for the recognition,” says Nelson, a WSU alumna who has taught in the Department of Human Development for nearly 20 years. “I don’t do research and I’m not a tenured professor, but it’s nice to know that those of us who teach are recognized also.”
Congratulations to all of the Provost’s Featured Faculty members for 2017. Read about all of them at provost.edu/featured-faculty.