BRIEFS three recipients of the first annual Awards for Excellence in the Teaching, Advising and Mentoring of Graduate and Professional Students. Cornell’s Graduate School and administration supported the event. Among the winners was Cornell Law School’s own Muna B. Ndulo, professor of law and director of Cornell’s Institute for African Development. “The quality of graduate students’ relationships with their advisers is probably the primary factor in their success, or failure, in graduate school,” said Nicole Baran, GPSA executive vice president and a Ph.D. candidate in the field of psychology. “The goals of the awards . . . were to articulate what we value in our own training, to increase positive and proactive dialogue about the important role that faculty play in graduate and professional student education, as well as to express gratitude to Cornell’s many exceptional mentors and teachers,” Baran said. The GPSA read more than 100 pages of nomination letters
from graduate and professional students, Baran reported. The winners were chosen based on advising, mentoring, emphasis on graduate students’ professional development, collegiality, leadership, responsiveness, teaching, and pedagogy development. Ndulo was praised as a role model who motivates his students to believe that they can make a positive impact on the world with their effort and talent, Baran said. Many nomination letters said he is a dedicated teacher and mentor despite the many demands on his time. One student wrote: “I had learned from some other star faculty on campus that folks so accomplished have little time for real engagement with students. It was such a tremendous delight to discover that Professor Ndulo is actually one of the most engaging and available professors.” Ndulo, who was lecturing in Zambia, was unable to attend the ceremony; Stewart J. Schwab, the Allan R. Tessler Dean of the Law School, accepted the award on his behalf.
I had learned from some other star faculty on campus that folks so accomplished have little time for real engagement with students. It was such a tremendous delight to discover that Professor Ndulo is actually one of the most engaging and available professors.
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Fall 2012
Dawn Chutkow Recognized by Merrill Scholar On May 23, the Cornell Merrill Presidential Scholars Program honored thirty-two of the university’s outstanding graduating seniors and the high school teachers and university faculty members who made important contributions to the students’ lives. For the first time, a Law School faculty member has been honored by a Merrill Presidential Scholar. Every year, the Law School opens a few of its classes to Cornell undergraduates. Natalie Raps, a graduating senior in the College of Arts and Sciences from Potomac, Maryland, took one of these classes taught by visiting professor Dawn Chutkow. Raps later selected Chutkow as the Cornell faculty member who most significantly contributed to her college experience. In response to the honor, Chutkow, who is also the executive director of the Society for Empirical Legal Studies and the executive editor of the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, stated, “I was delighted by the selection, but to be honest, I am not outside the norm for teaching at the Law School. The level of excellence in the classroom among Cornell Law School professors is truly exceptional. I just do my best to contribute to that tradition.” Each spring semester since 1988, approximately one percent of the graduating class is named to receive this honor by
Professor Chutkow
the deans of each of Cornell’s seven undergraduate colleges. The scholars, in turn, recognize a high school teacher and a Cornell faculty member who most inspired their scholastic development. Merrill scholars are chosen not only because of their outstanding scholastic accomplishments, but also because they have demonstrated remarkable intellectual drive, energetic leadership abilities, and a propensity to contribute to the betterment of society. The late Philip Merrill, a Cornell University alumnus (’55), created the Merrill Presidential Scholars Program, and the Merrill Family Foundation makes it possible through annual support.