Doctoral Candidate Receives Milton Dean Havron Social Sciences Award
Professor John Pease, fourth from left, back row, at his SOCY retirement celebration.
Professor John Pease Retires after 50 Years of Service JOHN PEASE joined the faculty of the Department of Sociology in 1967. Fifty years later, Pease claims he “forgot” to leave UMD, even after retiring in June as an Associate Professor Emeritus. He continues to hold an office in the Parren J. Mitchell Art-Sociology Building, and still teaches a general education course on human societies. Pease is known for his deliberately bad jokes, teaching in socks, and generosity as a teacher and a mentor. Pease chaired the committee that reformed general education at UMD in the 1990s; its recommendations became widely known as “the Pease Report.” “We take so much pride now in the quality of students we recruit and the success they have and our graduation rates,” said Brit Kirwan, former UMD president and chancellor for the University System of Maryland. “None of that could have happened, in my opinion, without the contributions of John Pease; his vision, his foresight, his ideas.” Pease received numerous accolades during his tenure at UMD, including: the 2009 Inspire Integrity Award from the National Society of Collegiate Scholars; the Excellence in Mentoring Award and the Faculty Award for Teaching from the Board of Regents; and the Kirwan Undergraduate Teaching Award. In 2001, he established the John Pease Scholarship, providing need-based funding for sociology students.
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WENDY LAYBOURN, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology, recently received the 2017-18 Milton Dean Havron Social Sciences Award. The award was established in 1988 and is given annually to an outstanding graduate student in psychology or sociology at UMD. Laybourn earned a B.A. in sociology at the University of Memphis. At Maryland, she focuses on social psychological processes of identity development and on the structural and cultural forces that shape racial and ethnic identity formation. She investigates the role of proximate social structures—such as family, support groups, and social organizations—in defining and redefining racial identity. Laybourn has published eight peer-reviewed articles and has a forthcoming book, Diversity in Black Greek Letter Organizations: Breaking the Line, with Routledge. In addition to her research and publications, Laybourn has been recognized throughout BSOS and the university for her contributions to diversity and inclusion. After defending her dissertation in May, Laybourn plans to pursue an academic appointment in sociology. “It is an immense honor to receive the Havron Award. My research would not have been possible without the support of awards like this,” Laybourn said.
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