HOLLAND - Hope College presented awards honoring teaching, service and scholarship to multiple faculty members during the college's annual recognition luncheon on Monday, Jan. 10.

Named a "Towsley Research Scholar" was Dr. Matt DeJongh, assistant professor of computer science.

The "Ruth and John Reed Faculty Achievement Awards" were presented to Dr. Steve Smith, associate professor of kinesiology, and Dr. Leslie Wessman, who is the Arnold and Esther Sonneveldt Professor of Education and chairperson of the department.

The "Provost's Awards for Excellence in Teaching" were presented to Dr. Patricia Roehling, who is professor of psychology and chairperson of the department, and Dr. Kathleen Verduin, professor of English.

The "Provost's Awards for Service to the Academic Program" were presented to Dr. Barry Bandstra, who is the Evert J. and Hattie E. Blekkink Professor of Religion, and Carl Heideman, who is director of computing and information technology.

The Towsley Research Scholars Program is funded through an endowment made possible through a grant from the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation of Midland. Through the program, newer Hope faculty members receive support for a project for four years. The foundation's awards to the college have also included grants for the construction of the Van Wylen Library and the new science center, faculty development in the pre-medical sciences and support for an endowed chair in communication.

DeJongh has been a member of the Hope faculty since 2002, and prior to coming to Hope he had been a senior software engineer with NetGenics Inc./LION bioscience Inc. for four years. He will use the award to support his ongoing research, conducted jointly with Hope students, in the field of bioinformatics, which blends biology and computer science in managing and analyzing data compiled through the Human Genome Project. His project has two primary goals: to integrate two different types of databases that describe and organize information about genes, and to develop software for working with the integrated information.

The Ruth and John Reed Faculty Achievement Awards recognize members of the Hope faculty who are superior teachers and have also contributed significantly in some other area of professional life. The award was established in memory of Dr. Ruth Yzenbaard Reed, a 1965 Hope graduate who was associate dean of Macomb Community College. Reed died in August of 1999 at age 55.

Smith has been a member of the Hope faculty since 1990. His doctorate is in motor development, and he has a broad background in the field of adapted physical education. He is head men's soccer coach at Hope, and in 15 seasons has guided the Flying Dutchmen to a 207-71-19 record, including six MIAA championships. He has been director of the college's soccer camp for young players since 1992. He previously led the "March to Hope" program that pairs Hope students with at-risk children in a weeklong backpacking experience, and currently leads Hope students to Jamaica during spring break each year to serve in a school for the deaf.

Wessman has been a member of the Hope faculty since 1990 and has chaired the department since 1996. She sponsored and mentored the college's education students as they formed the first student chapter of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). She played a leadership role in establishing the "Midwest Brain and Learning Institute," held at Hope since 2001, and she is part of the five-member team from Hope and the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District (OAISD) developing online graduate courses for in-service teachers through a grant through Michigan LearnPort.

The Provost's Awards for Excellence in Teaching are presented to faculty members who have been teaching at Hope for at least seven years. The award is given to professors who have demonstrated recognizable excellence in specific activities or aspects of teaching.

Roehling has been a member of the Hope faculty since 1987. She teaches the department's clinical-related classes as well as the introductory course and Advanced Research, and developed the department's successful internships program and practicum in behavior disorders. Since 1997 she has been conducting research in the area of work and family, and is co-author of the book "The Career Mystique: Cracks in the American Dream," published in December. She has presented numerous papers and invited addresses and has written many scholarly articles.

Verduin graduated from Hope in 1965 and returned as a faculty member in 1978. She developed the department's course on literary theory, and currently teaches subjects including Stephen King, Western literature and British literature since the Romantic period. Her service also includes coordinating the college's Arts and Humanities Colloquium Series. She was associate editor of the journal "Studies in Medievalism" from 1982 to 1999, and organized, with her late husband Leslie Workman, the International Conference on Medievalism from 1985 to 2000. She is the author of numerous essays and articles, and edited volumes in memory of former colleagues Dirk Jellema and James Prins.

The Provost's Awards for Service to the Academic Program are presented to individuals who have provided special contributions to the academic program through student academic support, general education, assessment work, implementation of programs that support/enhance the curriculum, and any activity outside of formal teaching that contributes to the overall excellence of the academic program.

Bandstra has been a member of the Hope faculty since 1983, and is chairperson of the department of religion. He is also director of academic computing at the college and chairperson of the college's Academic Computing Advisory Team. He has spent more than two decades designing materials for both the personal computer and the Web. He received one of only 12 Apple Computer Courseware Development Grants awarded to the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges in 1989, and in 2000 britannica.com gave his multi-media textbook "Reading the Old Testament" a four-star "Superior" rating.

Heideman has been a member of the Hope staff since 1988, the same year that he graduated from the college with majors in computer science and mathematics. He was promoted from manager of user services/technical support to assistant director in 1993, and to director in 1995. As director of computing and information technology at the college, he is a member of the college's Academic Computing Advising Team.

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