Faculty Awards
2019 Robert E. Wall Awards
The Robert E. Wall Faculty Award Program, initiated during Spring 1994, is to foster faculty scholarly research or artistic creativity at Fairfield and, second, to celebrate the outcome of these efforts within the University community.
All tenured faculty are invited to submit a research proposal for consideration by the Provost, the Deans of the Schools and College and the Chair of the faculty research Committee. The awardee is granted a semester long sabbatical to pursue the research project.
Ben Fine, PhD, Professor of Mathematics
Nick Rinaldi, PhD, Professor of English
Gregory Koutmos, PhD, Professor of Finance
Nancy Haegel, PhD, Associate Professor of Physics
Matt Coleman, PhD, Professor of Mathematics
Diane Brousseau, PhD, Professor of Biology
John Thiel, PhD, Professor of Religious Studies
Ed Deak, PhD, Professor of Economics
Katherine Schwab, PhD, Professor of Art History
Ronald M. Davidson, PhD, Professor of Religious Studies
Stephen Sawin, PhD, Professor of Mathematics
Anna Martin, PhD, Associate Professor of Finance
Dennis Keenan, PhD, Professor of Philosophy
Kim Bridgford, PhD, Professor of English
Nick Laopodis, PhD, Associate Professor of Finance
Joy Gordon, PhD, Professor of Philosophy
Donald Gibson, PhD, Professor of Management
Jo Yarrington, PhD, Professor of Studio Art
Brian Walker, PhD, Professor of Biology
Giovanni Ruffini, PhD, Professor of History
David Crawford, PhD, Professor of Sociology & Anthropology
Paul Lakeland, PhD, Professor of Religious Studies
Mark Demers, PhD, Professor of Mathematics
Terry-Ann Jones, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology & Anthropology
Kris Sealey, PhD, Associate Professor of Philosophy
Sonya Huber, MA, MFA, Professor of English
Sriharsha Sundarram, PhD, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
William Vasquez, PhD, Professor of Economics
The Lucy Katz Award
Since 1994, the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program has annually recognized a person on campus who has made an outstanding contribution to women's issues. Founding co-directors Dr. Johanna Garvey, Associate Professor of English, and Dr. Lucy Katz, Professor Emeritus, Business, believe such recognition will advance the understanding and promotion of women's issues on campus and off.
- 2025 - Fairfield University Women's Basketball Program
- 2024 - Nakia N. Létang,
Director of Admission, Bellarmine Campus, Fairfield University - 2023 - Martha S. LoMonaco, PhD,
Professor of Visual and Performing Arts & Director of the Theatre Program - 2022 - Pamela Paulmann, MPH
Coordinator, Health & Wellness Education and Prevention - 2021 - Mary Kleps
Instructional Support Manager, Academic Computing, ITS - 2020 - No Award
- 2019 Maggie Wills, PhD
Associate Professor of Communication, Director of the Bachelor of Liberal and Professional Studies Program - 2018 Jean Daniele
College of Arts & Sciences Director of Operations and Budget Manager - 2017 Carrie Robinson
Associate Director of Office of Student Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, for cultivating brave spaces and giving visibility, voice, and opportunities for those at the margins of our campus community. - 2016 Melissa Quan
Director of Center Faith & Public Life - 2015 Dr. Susan Birge
Assistant Vice President and Director of Counseling & Psychological Services - 2014 Dr. Robbin Crabtree
Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences - 2013 Dr. Ellen Umansky
- 2012 The Founders of the Gender, Sex and Sexuality Commons
- 2011 Dr. Shelley Phelan and Elizabeth DeCamp McInerny
Professor of Health Sciences and a professor of biology - 2010 Dr. Dina Franceschi
Associate Professor of Economics, in honor of her work on campus sustainability issues, childcare, and promoting social justice in Latin America. - 2009 Project Peg
Coed student organization, for giving voice and visibility to feminism and for exploring issues of gender, sex, and sexuality through creative theatrical performance. - 2007 Dr. Lucy Katz
Dolan School of Business, for Feminism and Fairfield - Her Dedication to Enhancing Women's Lives Across the University and In the World. - 2006 Jeanne DiMuzio
Director of Health and Wellness Education for her Vision and Activism in Support of the Health and Well-Being of Students. - 2005 Dr. Mary Frances Malone
Associate Vice President, for her Untiring Commitment to Students and to the Whole Community of Fairfield University - 2004 Cynthia Swift
Office of Multicultural Relations, for Promoting and Sustaining Diversity on Campus and Helping Students Become Future Leaders - 2003 Jean Shaheen
Ex-Governor of New Hampshire and parent of a Fairfield alumna for her Stellar Role in the World of Politics. - 2002 Dr. Olivia Harriott
Department of Biology, for A Mentor and A Role Model: Building Confidence and Careers in Science - 2001 Dr. Denice Yanni
Department of Communication, for her Grace and Leadership in Developing the Women's Studies Program - 2000 Carole Anne Maxwell
Director, Fairfield University Glee Club for The Power of the Human Voice - 1999 Dr. Suzanne MacAvoy
School of Nursing, for The Courage to Care - 1998 Dr. Betsy Bowen
English Department, for Empowering Women through Learning and Literacy - 1997 Sr. M. Julianna Poole, S.S.N.D.
School of Education and Human Development, for Education, Multiculturalism, and The Future - 1996 Janet Canepa, Mary Spiegel, and Mary-Margaret Walsh
For facilitating Personal and Professional Growth of Women Alumnae. - 1995 Dorothy Mosaka
Graduate student in School of Education and Human Development, for Humanity and Our Daily Lives: Politics, Education, Morality. - 1994 Dr. Doris T. Lippman
School of Nursing, for the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project.
Women's Studies Award: Project Peg - Introductory Comments by Jocelyn M. Boryczka, March 25, 2009
Deciding to introduce Project Peg, a group with whom I've worked since it was an idea of a few women including Brigid Williams, Courtney DePasquale and Darci Fulcher, was difficult to say the least. While listening to the CD made for the cast of The Vagina Monologues, a production performed by Project Peg in which I was honored to play a part, I heard a particular song that I thought really captured the essence of Project Peg - "Why Not" by Hillary Duff. My favorite part of this song is:
why not (Why not)
take a crazy chance
why not (Why not)
do a crazy dance
if you lose the moment
you might lose a lot
so why not why not
Before performances of the Monologues, the Pegsters, as I call them, would do a crazy dance. It was magical to see so much youth, vibrancy, passion, and energy.
That, for me, embodies what Project Peg is all about - the release of positive constructive energy that invites all into doing a "crazy dance" and asks us "Why Not?" Why not embrace who we are? Why not ask ourselves what feminism means to us? Why not interrogate what we think our bodies look like? Why not be concerned about human trafficking?
This celebratory dimension of being a feminist and activist often gets lost in the construction of both as serious, stoic, humorless, and, to be honest, ideological and often boring. Project Peg breaks those constructions and shows us the joy and the passion of doing important work to make positive change in the world. In this way, they remind me of Emma Goldman (1869-1940), a feminist heroine, anarchist activist, editor, writer, teacher, jailbird, and general trouble-maker. In her 1931 autobiography Living My Life, Goldman wrote:
"At the dances I was one of the most untiring and gayest. One evening …a young boy took me aside. With a grave face, as if he were about to announce the death of a dear comrade, he whispered to me that it did not behoove an agitator to dance. Certainly not with such reckless abandon, anyway. It was undignified for one who was on the way to become a force in the anarchist movement. My frivolity would only hurt the Cause.
I grew furious at the impudent interference of the boy. I told him to mind his own business, I was tired of having the Cause constantly thrown into my face. I did not believe that a Cause which stood for a beautiful ideal, for anarchism, for release and freedom from conventions and prejudice, should demand the denial of life and joy. I insisted that our Cause could not expect me to become a nun and that the movement should not be turned into a cloister. If it meant that, I did not want it. "I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody's right to beautiful, radiant things." Anarchism meant that to me, and I would live it in spite of the whole world - prisons, persecution, everything. Yes, even in spite of the condemnation of my own comrades I would live my beautiful ideal" (Living My Life, New York: Knopf, 1934, p. 56).
This spirit of freedom, celebration, and self-expression got boiled down into the following slogan attributed to Emma Goldman: "If I can't dance to it, it's not my revolution."
Project Peg, in my mind, asks us to join the dance and be a part of a revolution to change our campus culture by engaging powerfully and in ways that challenge how we think about gender, sex, and sexuality. These women and men - one generation after the next - bring their creativity and performative energy to bear on some of the most pressing feminist issues of the day from body image to human trafficking. They invite us in to their dance, to make it our own, and to express ourselves. They remind us that activism is pleasure - is joy - is celebration.
Project Peg invites us to entertain the question "Why Not?" which is the starting point for action and activism for positive change. Thank you Peg for inviting us to dance and remember how that feels, to release the daily chains of constraint that bind us and participate in the revolutionary potential of asking "Why Not?" Tonight we dance in celebration of your amazingness - your incredible contributions to Fairfield University.
Statement About the Award by Katie Carroll '09
Project Peg is so grateful to be recognized as Women of the Year. The award has been a wonderful surprise and we are truly honored to be the 2009 recipients. Thank you to every student, faculty, and staff member that has contributed to the spirit of Peg over the last four years. Additionally, the mentorship and guidance of Dr. Jocelyn Boryczka and Dr. Marti LoMonaco have been vital as Project Peg grows, and we are so appreciative of their support and encouragement.
One of the special elements of Project Peg is its artistic focus. Being a member of Project Peg means being a citizen artist. Everything we do, theatrically or otherwise, we approach from a place of activism. Women of the Year has shown us that we are asking the right questions and encouraging the most provocative conversations as citizen artists on this campus.
Statement About the Group, Including Founder
Project Peg is a coed student organization devoted to exploring issues of gender diversity through creative art and theatrical performance. The group was founded in the Fall of 2005 by Darci Fulcher '07, in her effort to find a creative platform to explore body image with her seven closest friends. Project Peg has expanded over the last four years to now count over 100 students and alumni as members or supporters. Since its inception in 2005, Project Peg has:
- Devised and presented several performance pieces dealing with issues such as body image, gender stereotypes, and feminism
- Held consciousness raising discussions
- Won 2 Brinkman Student Diversity Grants and now Women of the Year
This year, the group explored the issue of sexual violence and sex trafficking in various ways. Project Peg worked to fundraise a holiday drive for Operation Hope in Fairfield last December. Project Peg has also become an international presence, working with the Somaly Mam Foundation to sell bracelets made by former sex slaves, girls ages 4-8, in Cambodia. The group also ran several floor programs with freshmen women to begin dialogues about sexual violence and feminism.
Theatrically, Project Peg:
- Had the honor of working with Soroptimist International to perform Tempest Production's "Body & Sold" by Deborah Lake Fortson in New Haven in November
- Had an encore performance of "Body & Sold" in the Wien Experimental Theatre at the Quick Center, sponsored by the Politics, Sociology, Peace and Justice and Catholic Studies departments as well as the Center for Faith and Public Life, in February
- Had ties (unofficially) to the Jamie A. Hulley Arts Foundation V-Day benefit production of The Vagina Monologues in January
- Worked with the Vagina Warriors and performed truthful monologues for Take Back the Night in April
All of Project Peg's work culminated on Women's Day, which was on March 25 of this year and co-sponsored by the Women's Studies department. Women's Day was in the Lower Level BCC and featured all types of visual artwork from students across campus. Students were invited to add their own artwork to the walls and sign the group affirmation, "You Have the Right to Remain Silent - But Don't. I pledge to arrest violence against women."
Guest performer Ms. Dale Allen performed a portion of "In Our Right Minds," a show that explores the sacred feminine and the right side of the brain. Later in the afternoon, the student group "For Colored Girls who Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Wasn't Enuf" performed a short preview of their April 18 opening performance.
Gerald Corrigan Chair
The E. Gerald Corrigan Chair, initiated in 2007, was developed to mark Fairfield University’s commitment to continued engagement with the larger community. Kurt C. Schlichting, PhD, professor of sociology and anthropology, was installed as the first E. Gerald Corrigan Chair in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Fairfield University. Emily Orlando, PhD, Professor of English, currently serves as the E. Corrigan Chair in Humanities and Social Science.
Elizabeth DeCamp McInerny Chair in the Health Sciences
The Elizabeth DeCamp McInerny Chair in the Health Sciences, initiated in 1979, supports faculty research and faculty mentored student research in health-related sciences. Margaret McClure, PhD, professor of Psychology, currently serves as the McInerny Chair.
