By SARA GIBONEY
UNK Communications
KEARNEY – University of Nebraska at Kearney professors Doug Biggs, Scott Darveau and Kim Carlson received the prestigious Pratt-Heins Faculty Awards Friday during the Faculty/Staff Convocation.
For 36 years, the Pratt-Heins Foundation has recognized UNK faculty members for their outstanding contributions in the categories of teaching, service and scholarship, and research.
Doug Biggs
Doug Biggs, a history professor, received the Pratt-Heins Foundation Scholarship and Research Award.
The award is based on evidence of the consistent production of original work in the nominee’s discipline. Each nominee submits a list of research documents and publications, evaluations from individuals qualified to evaluate the scholarship and research of the nominee, and administrative evaluations from the department chair and dean.
Joining UNK in 2008, Biggs was already an established scholar, faculty member and department chair of his former college. At UNK, he has served as dean of his college, and has served as a mentor to countless graduate students.
His book, “Three Armies in Britain,” is the standard text for all undergraduate reading, according to Dr. Gwilym Dodd at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.
He is the managing editor for the series, “Late Medieval Europe 1100-1600.”
Biggs has been published in many scholarly journals, including the Journal of Medieval History, Journal of Historical Review and Journal of Medieval Military History.
He has been elected as a fellow to the prestigious Royal Historical Society in the United Kingdom, and he was elected as president of the White Hart Society, a society of historians of the reigns of King Richard II and Henry IV.
Scott Darveau
Scott Darveau, a professor of chemistry, received the Pratt-Heins Foundation Service Award.
Selection for the award is based on evidence of consistent outstanding service to UNK students, the university and to education and peer evaluations.
Darveau joined UNK in 1997, became a professor in 2007, and has served as the chair of his department.
He’s received many awards, including the Outstanding Honors Faculty of the Year in 2006.
Darveau is a faculty mentor for new hires, has served as the committee chair organizing the Don Fox Lecture and Awards Banquet, and has served as faculty advisor to the UNK student affiliate of the American Chemical Society.
He’s assisted the Office of Health Studies in its Kearney Health Opportunities Program (KHOP) interviews for pharmacy school, he’s been active in the UNK union serving on the executive committee and as a UNKEA negotiator, and he’s served in many offices with the UNK Faculty Senate, including president.
Darveau is active in the Nanoscience Summer Camps and has guest lectured at numerous elementary and high schools throughout the area.
He’s also been involved with the Boy Scouts of America, serving as cub master, assistant scout master, Order of the Arrow Lodge advisor, roundtable commissioner and, currently, as district chairman.
In 2016, the Covered Wagon District awarded him the district award of merit, its highest volunteer recognition.
Kim Carlson
Biology professor Kim Carlson received the Pratt-Heins Foundation Teaching Award.
Selection for the award is based on peer evaluations from faculty, chair and dean of the nominee’s department and student comments from course evaluations.
Carlson received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UNK, and her Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She joined the UNK faculty in 2003 and was tenured in 2008. She was promoted to professor in 2012 and serves as assistant chair of her department.
Her classes are tough, rigorous and challenging, but always highly rated by students. Throughout her teaching career, she has always received student evaluation scores of 4.5 and above.
Carlson passionately mentors undergraduate students, many who have gone on to higher academic pursuits or professional careers. Many have written that they wouldn’t have dreamed of trying to get into medical school had it not been for her encouragement and engagement.
She involves her students in her research, which is evidenced by numerous joint publications, enabling students to gain confidence and high academic acclaim.
She was instrumental in developing and team-teaching the general studies capstone course, The Science of Fear.
In recognition of her outstanding teaching, she was awarded the Leland Holt Security Mutual Faculty Award in 2015. Carlson received the Pratt Heins Award for Scholarship and Research in 2011 and the Pratt-Heins Award for Service in 2012.
SAFE Awards for Excellence
Staff Awards for Excellence (SAFE) were also presented at the convocation. SAFE Awards are presented annually to honor UNK staff members for outstanding service to students, UNK and education in general.
The awards are sponsored by Fidelity Investments.
Recipients of the SAFE Awards were Julie Saalfeld, eCampus office associate, and Lonna Weiss, Student Affairs administrative assistant.
A third SAFE Award, made possible by the Jim and Lynn Rundstrom Family Foundation Fund, was awarded to Alta Kramer, interlibrary loan and document delivery associate in the Calvin T. Ryan Library.
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