A Message from the Dean - May 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic is easing in the United States thanks to the success of rapidly developed and distributed vaccines. As of May 25, more than one half of the entire U.S. population has received at least one dose of a vaccine, and nearly 40 percent are fully vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have advised us that fully vaccinated individuals can uncover their faces in most places and situations. As conditions continue to improve, capacity restrictions will be lifted for public spaces and meetings. For the most recent campus updates, please visit the SIUE COVID-19 Information page.
I look forward to students, faculty, and staff returning to SIUE in numbers we have not seen since the early spring semester of 2020. It will be good to have face-to-face meetings and to attend public lectures and musical, theatrical, and dance performances.
Even as activities and events resume on campus, it is important to remember all of the people who have died from COVID-19 and to recognize that the pandemic still threatens the health and lives of many people around the world.
It has been an eventful month for the College of Arts and Sciences. On the second Saturday in May, hundreds of CAS graduates filed across the stage in the First Community Arena at the Vadalabene Center in the first face-to-face commencement exercises at SIUE since December 2019. Chancellor Randy Pembrook, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Denise Cobb, and I had the honor of congratulating each of the graduates in three CAS ceremonies. In order to ensure the safety of all participants, masks were required, and the number of attendees at each ceremony was restricted.
A few days later, Chancellor Randy Pembrook announced his plans to retire. Chancellor Pembrook earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Department of Music. He has led SIUE through many challenges since his appointment in 2016. We will miss his commitment to excellence and his strong support for the College and its programs.
Timothy E. Lewis, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, was honored by the Missouri House of Representatives for his service to higher education. Jason Stacy, PhD, a professor in the Department of History, received the 2021 Paul Simon Outstanding Teacher-Scholar Award. Three faculty in the Department of Social Work, Assistant Professor Jennifer Erwin, PhD, Associate Professor Jill Schrieber, PhD, and Associate Professor Jayme Swanke, PhD, received $3,000 from the Emeriti Faculty Association for their project, “Policy is Practice: Social Work in Action.” Marta Simidtchieva, PhD, a professor in the Department of Music, received $4,050 from the Emeriti Faculty Association to support her project, “Bulgarian Music and the Creative Process: A Modern Transformation of Traditions through a World Premiere.”
CAS Honors Day is the largest single event other than commencement that recognizes student achievement at SIUE. Due to the pandemic, Honors Day 2021 took place virtually for the second year in a row. A total of 287 students from CAS received 358 different awards and scholarships in the virtual ceremony.
As the 2020-2021 academic year drew to a close, CAS students, staff, faculty, and alumni continued to receive recognition for their research and service activities. Alumnus Mitchell Haas, who earned a bachelor’s degree in history in 2010, joined Library and Information Services as its first online learning librarian.
Susanne DiSalvo, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, has received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award. DiSalvo received the highly competitive grant totaling $463,557 to support her research, “Population and Evolutionary Dynamics of Bacteriophage-Symbiont-Host Interactions: Development of a Multi-layered Model Microbiome.” This research could help lead to new strategies for treating bacterial infections.
Peter Cocuzza, MFA, a professor in the Department of Theater and Dance, retired this month after 26 years on the SIUE faculty. Cocuzza directed more than 26 plays, and he is the founder of the Summer Theater Workshop. Congratulations on a long and productive career at SIUE!
Please read more about these people and their accomplishments in This Month in CAS, and tune in to Segue at 9 a.m. on Sundays to learn about people and events on the SIUE campus.
Kevin Leonard, PhD
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
