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Joel Toppen Receives Honor from Students During Homecoming Game

Posted October 9, 2004

HOLLAND – Joel Toppen of the Hope College political science faculty has received the ninth annual "Favorite Faculty/Staff Member" award presented by the student body.

The award was presented on Saturday, Oct. 9, during halftime of the college’s Homecoming football game.

Recipients of the award are chosen through a vote open to the entire student body and conducted at the same time as the elections for the Homecoming court and king and queen. The students are not provided with a list of candidates for the award, but rather are asked to write in the name of the person that they feel should be honored. The award was first presented in 1996.

It is the second time during the current calendar year that Hope’s students have chosen Toppen for major recognition. During the college’s Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 2, he was presented the 40th annual "Hope Outstanding Professor Educator" (H.O.P.E.) Award by the graduating Class of 2004.

Toppen began teaching at the college in the fall of 1996 as a visiting instructor. He became a visiting assistant professor in 1999, and was appointed assistant professor of political science in 2002.

An active member of the campus community, earlier in the week he had participated in the student-organized "Take Back the Night" march, speaking about global violence against women. He serves as faculty advisor for student organizations including the Hope Democrats, the Ultimate Frisbee Club, the Cosmopolitan Fraternity and the college's chapter of Amnesty International.

Through a grant provided by the CrossRoads Project at Hope, Toppen has established an internship program in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the Food Programming Management Group of World Vision International, an initiative that debuted with two Hope students during the spring, 2004, semester. The program has attracted great student interest. Four Hope students will be going to Johannesburg during the spring, 2005, semester. Toppen intends to grow the internship program to include opportunities in many countries across the developing world.

He is teaching a new course on global poverty this fall, in addition to teaching a course on research methods in the study of politics and a laboratory course for students in the department’s course on campaign management.

In the summer of 2003, he presented the paper "Ideology, Science, and Bush's Millennium Challenge Account" during the 19th World Congress of the International Political Science Association, held in Durban, South Africa. He involves Hope students in his research.

His scholarship has appeared in the journal "Peace and Change" and in "Christian Scholar's Review."

He graduated from Hope in 1991 with a major in political science. He completed his master's degree in political science at Purdue University in 1993, and his doctorate at Purdue in 1998. His dissertation examined the influence of democratic liberalism on U.S. foreign policy.

Toppen has deep Hope roots. His parents, Phil and Mary, met as students at the college, and his father worked at the college in admissions and at the Dow Center for 15 years before his death in 1985. His maternal grandmother also attended Hope, and his wife Heather is a 1991 Hope classmate.

Toppen and his family live in Grand Haven. He is a member of the board of the Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance and of the People Center in Spring Lake, and is a former member of the Planning Commission in Grand Haven. His community service has also included giving multiple presentations to area groups concerning political science topics, particularly related to foreign policy.

He and Heather have two young children at home and another due in December.

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