Mathematics Faculty Awards
Dr. Brooks Emerick
John P. Schellenberg Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (2023)
Dr. Brooks Emerick, Associate Professor of mathematics, was awarded Kutztown University’s 2023 John P. Schellenberg Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. The award was presented during the university's Faculty and Staff Convocation and Celebration Friday, Aug. 25.
Emerick has been a professor of mathematics at KU since 2017. He received both his Ph.D. and master’s in applied mathematics from the University of Delaware and his Bachelor of Science in applied mathematics from Shippensburg University.
Emerick is an innovative professional who seeks to implement different initiatives to make industry connections for his students and allow them to connect what they learn in the classroom to real-world applications. For example, he was awarded a Preparation for Industrial Careers in Mathematical Sciences (PIC) grant to redesign MAT 210 – Mathematical Computing and Typesetting. Through this, Emerick was able to guide his students to work with the Borough of Kutztown on wastewater treatment. Students were taught how to use data analysis and mathematical models to identify leaks in the Kutztown sanitary sewer system and study the efficiency and cost savings of an improved sewer system.
Emerick’s mentorship of his students is admirable. Undergraduate students are continually involved in his research. These collaborations have resulted in publications in the peer-reviewed journal Mathematical Biosciences, students being admitted to prestigious mathematics doctoral programs and one student being awarded the highly prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Fellowship.
In his pursuit to elevate his students, Emerick continually looks to enhance the environment in which he teaches to improve learning outcomes. His ability to recognize problems and solve them with both technology and a personal approach has allowed for a more seamless learning experience and provides students with instant feedback and quick support when struggling. For example, he frequently hosts office hours in a student-friendly location such as the library or a campus coffee shop so that they are viewed as more welcoming to students.
Emerick has published 13 publications and has hosted numerous conference/workshop proceedings.
The John P. Schellenberg Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning was established by John P. Schellenberg, emeriti professor of physical science, faculty alumni and friends to recognize an early career faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding work.
Dr. Wing Hong Tony Wong
Chambliss Faculty Research Award (2023)
Dr. Wing Hong Tony Wong, Professor of Mathematics, has been awarded Kutztown University's 2023 Chambliss Faculty Research Awards for extraordinary research and scholarship endeavors. The award was presented during the university's Faculty and Staff Convocation and Celebration Friday, August 25.
Wong began his career at KU in 2013. His extraordinary research work has brought him, the Department of Mathematics and Kutztown University recognition within the discrete mathematics community.
Since his career at KU began, Wong has received many accolades, including the John P. Schellenberg Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (Kutztown University), 40 Under Forty Award (Reading Eagle), Excellence in Teaching Award (National Society of Leadership and Success), Early Career Teaching Award (Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware Section of the Mathematical Association of America) in addition to serving as Principal Investigator and Senior Personnel for multiple grants totaling more than $1 million.
Wong’s research career proves to be extensively impressive. Over the past five years, he published 21 publications in peer-reviewed research journals in five different fields including combinatorics, blockchain economy, game theory, graph theory and number theory. His most notable research piece is Covering systems with odd moduli as it received Editors’ Choice Award 2023 for being selected as one of the most outstanding papers published in Discrete Mathematics in 2022. Discrete Mathematics is a tier-one journal in combinatorics. Only 16 papers are selected each year out of 400+.
In addition to his outstanding research, Wong is actively involved in the mathematics community. He served as a co-chief organizer for a special session on Graph Theory at the 2018 Fall Eastern Sectional Meeting of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) and co-organized the 2015 PASSHE-Mathematics Association Conference. In addition, Wong has given numerous presentations at the local, national and international level.
The Chambliss Faculty Research Award, inaugurated in 2004 through a gift from Dr. Carlson R. Chambliss, professor emeriti of physical science, is meant to recognize the very highest achievement in research and scholarship and can be awarded only once within a person's career.
Dr. Lyn McQuaid
Arthur and Isabel Wiesenberger Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching (2022)
Dr. Lyn McQuaid ’95, associate professor of mathematics, received Kutztown University’s 2022 Wiesenberger Award for Excellence in Teaching. The annually presented award is given to a faculty member who has demonstrated superlative teaching skills and service to the university. The award was presented during the 2022 Kutztown University Faculty and Staff Convocation and Celebration Friday, Aug. 26.
McQuaid received her Ph.D. and Master of Science in mathematics from Lehigh University and her Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Kutztown University. She has strong ties to KU as her father, Dr. Larry Mugridge, was a KU mathematics professor from 1972-2011, and her son is currently a sophomore majoring in mathematics at KU. In 2007, McQuaid won the Schellenberg Award, given to faculty members who exemplify excellence in teaching early into their KU careers.
“It is such an honor to be recognized for excellent teaching, which is a cornerstone of the original mission of Kutztown University when it was first established as a Normal School more than 150 years ago.”
McQuaid is beginning her 22nd year of teaching at KU and has taught more than a dozen different courses in mathematics, ranging from general education to graduate level classes. At the start of her KU career, there were no STEM courses offered in the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies program, which led to her creating a course titled “Women in Mathematics” that has now been taught for nearly two decades at KU. McQuaid has been a member of the KU Commission on the Status of Women for 21 years and served in various roles including chair, vice chair and secretary. In 2013, McQuaid and colleague Dr. Yun (Amy) Lu founded a KU student chapter of the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) and were subsequently awarded the Community Outreach Award by the National AWM Organization in Fall 2021. All other AWM award winners were schools with Ph.D. candidates in their chapter, which made this accomplishment very meaningful as KU’s chapter is composed solely of undergraduates.
McQuaid has published a handful of papers regarding women in mathematics and most recently, has two papers published with a student co-author. She has another paper with Lu and a student accepted for publication about the activities of their AWM student chapter. Those activities include the annual High School Mathematics Day for Girls that brings students who identify as female and their teachers to KU for a day of mathematical enrichment and fun, as well as a virtual lecture series they have hosted several times per month during the two years of the pandemic that attracted participants from all over the world.
In Spring 2022, McQuaid was a co-primary investigator on a team who received a National Science Foundation ADVANCE Grant. This grant aims to identify and address systemic inequities affecting STEM faculty and the entire university community. This grant has aided in fostering better understanding of the underrepresentation of women and has called to action ways in which the disproportionality of women in these fields can be changed, especially for women of color and other groups in STEM disciplines both on a local and national scale.
Dr. Yun (Amy) Lu
Dean's Outstanding Faculty Award (2021)
Dr. Yun (Amy) Lu, Professor of Mathematics, is the 2021 recipient of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Outstanding Faculty Award. This honor recognizes a faculty member in the college with a consistent and conscientious commitment to student success both in and out of the classroom. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Lu and in thanking her for her dedication to our students.
The Dean's Outstanding Faculty award recognizes tenure-track and tenured faculty with a record of supporting student research, internships, and helping students above and beyond the "norm." Particular consideration is given to contributions to student learning/student learning experiences and involvement with students. The recipient is someone who holds the respect of their university colleagues.
Dr. Wing Hong Tony Wong
Mathematical Association of America Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware Section Early Career Teaching Award (2020)
Dr. Wing Hong Tony Wong, Associate Professor of Mathematics, has been named the inaugural recipient of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware (EPaDel) section Early Career Teaching Award. This award honors faculty who have been recognized as extraordinarily successful in their teaching, have had influence in their teaching beyond the classroom, and foster curiosity and generated excitement about mathematics.
Dr. Brian Kronenthal
John P. Schellenberg Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (2020)
Dr. Brian Kronenthal, associate professor of mathematics, has been awarded the 2020 John P. Schellenberg Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Kutztown University. The award was announced as part of KU's virtual Faculty and Staff Convocation and Celebration Friday, Aug. 21.
Kronenthal began at KU in 2013. He has had 11 journal publications, three in 2019 including, "On the uniqueness of some girth eight algebraically defined graphs, Part II," Discrete Applied Mathematics; "The Settlers of Catanbinatorics," Mathematics Magazine; and "On the girth of two-dimensional real algebraically defined graphs," Discrete Mathematics, which was coauthored by a KU student. He has also presented at numerous conferences, most recently the Joint Mathematics Conference in Denver, Colo. in January.
Kronenthal earned a Bachelor of Science in mathematics with a minor in French from Lafayette College, and a Master of Science and doctorate in mathematics from the University of Delaware.
The John P. Schellenberg Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning was established by John P. Schellenberg, emeriti professor of physical science, faculty alumni and friends to recognize an early career faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding work.
Dr. Francis Vasko
Dean's Outstanding Faculty Award (2020)
Dr. Fran Vasko, Professor of Mathematics, is the 2020 recipient of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Outstanding Faculty Award. This honor recognizes a faculty member in the college with a consistent and conscientious commitment to student success both in and out of the classroom. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Vasko and in thanking him for his dedication to our students.
The Dean's Outstanding Faculty award recognizes tenure-track and tenured faculty with a record of supporting student research, internships, and helping students above and beyond the "norm." Particular consideration is given to contributions to student learning/student learning experiences and involvement with students. The recipient is someone who holds the respect of their university colleagues.
Dr. Padraig McLoughlin
EPaDel Crawford Award for Distinguished Teaching (2020)
Dr. Padraig McLoughlin has been presented with the Crawford Award for Distinguished Teaching by the Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware (EPaDel) section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). Dr. McLoughlin was recognized for his many impressive accomplishments and qualities, including:
- The testimony of his students and colleagues about his commitment, passion, and talent for inspiring undergraduates;
- His emphasis on depth of student learning using a modified Moore method classroom technique;
- His mentoring of both students and colleagues throughout his tenure at Kutztown University;
- His overwhelming encouragement and support of undergraduate research; and
- His general dedication to pedagogy and teaching over a period of 20 years.
Moreover, Dr. McLoughlin will be nominated by EPaDel for this year's national MAA Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics.
For more information, please see the official EPaDel announcement.
Dr. Yun (Amy) Lu
Chambliss Faculty Research Award (2017)
Dr. Yun Lu was awarded the Chambliss Faculty Research Award during the university's Faculty and Staff Convocation and Celebration held in August 2017.
Dr. Lu, a resident of Upper Macungie Township, Lehigh County, is a professor of mathematics and has authored and co-authored peer-reviewed articles on the subject of operations research, mathematics logic, and mathematics education.
She has served as chair of the Department of Mathematics' Technology and Online Teaching Committee and as chair of the Tenure-track Faculty Search Committee. She is a member of various university committees such as the Undergraduate Research Fund Committee, Committee on Committees, and University Promotion Committee.
Dr. Lu holds a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics from Anhui University, Hefei, China. She holds both a master's degree and doctorate from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn.
The Chambliss award, inaugurated in 2004 through a gift from Dr. Carlson R. Chambliss, professor emeriti of physical science, is meant to recognize the very highest achievement in research and scholarship and can be awarded only once within a person's career.
Dr. wing Hong Tony Wong
John P. Schellenberg Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (2017)
Dr. Wing Hong Tony Wong, has been awarded the John P. Schellenberg Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Kutztown University.
Dr. Wong is an assistant professor of mathematics at KU, where he is the founder and coach of the mathematics team and has assisted on developing two courses, Discrete Mathematics and Problem Solving in Mathematics. He currently serves as the chair of the departmental Outreach Committee. He is dedicated to sharing the fun aspects of mathematics with the general public.
Dr. Wong holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, and a doctorate in mathematics from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Prior to college, he competed in mathematics competitions at the international level.
The John P. Schellenberg Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning was established by John P. Schellenberg, emeriti professor of physical science, faculty alumni and friends to recognize an early career faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding work.
Professor Randy Schaeffer
Arthur and Isabel Wiesenberger Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching (2013)
Kutztown University and the Kutztown University Alumni Association honored associate professor of mathematics, Randy Schaeffer '72, with The Arthur and Isabel Wiesenberger Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching. The award, which includes a prize of $2,000 and a plaque, is granted annually to a faculty member who demonstrates distinguished achievement in teaching, academic excellence, research, publication and curriculum development.
Professor Schaeffer, who teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in mathematics and mathematics education, supervises student teachers in mathematics. Over the course of his teaching career, he has worked with more than 400 student teachers, some of whom still keep in touch with him. "I have lifelong friends," said Professor Schaeffer. "Students I taught decades ago still keep in touch and send emails thanking me for all of my help. Working with the math student teachers, we develop a very close relationship; I give advice, help them develop their craft and help them get jobs. I've been to dozens of weddings, christenings and even funerals. In my position, I have the privilege of forging valuable partnerships with students - not everyone gets the opportunity to do so."
In addition to his teaching, Professor Schaeffer avidly pursues opportunities for service; he is chair of the University Curriculum Committee, chair of the General Education Committee, the advisor for mathematics honor society Kappa Mu Epsilon and president of the Eastern Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of Mathematics (EPCTM). In recent years, Schaeffer has helped revise the general education curriculum for the university and oversee the implementation of the new general education requirements. As president of the EPCTM, he arranges the organization's biannual conference, which brings together math teachers from around the region." Winning this award is a big honor," said Professor Schaeffer. "The nomination alone is an honor - I appreciate that my colleagues and students felt strongly enough to go the extra effort to nominate me. It's a recognition of my teaching, which is the most important thing in my life. It's my passion. This means a lot to me because I am an alumnus of KU - some of the former recipients of this award were my professors!" In addition to his teaching and service to the university, Professor Schaeffer, along with KU Professor Emeritus Bill Bateman, owns the largest privately held collection of Coca-Cola memorabilia in the world. They also collect KU memorabilia and have artifacts from when KU was the Keystone Normal School. Among the collection are pennants, created to commemorate specific events, from the 1900s; china pieces; pin trays; vases with images of Old Main; early 1900s jewelry pieces, including pins with the year on them; and old catalogues.
Professor Schaeffer has been teaching for 40 years, with 25 of them at KU.
Dr. Lyn McQuaid
John P. Schellenberg Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (2006)
Dr. McQuaid came to Kutztown University in 2001 and has taught courses at all levels of the mathematics curriculum ranging from Developmental Mathematics through the graduate level. She is the creator of the Women in Mathematics course which is offered every semester and often offered as a distance learning course during the summer. She is also the faculty advisor to the Math Club. She co-organized the Sonia Kovalevsky High School Mathematics Day in January 2008, which will become an annual event designed to encourage young women to continue their study of mathematics.
The John P. Schellenberg Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning was established by John P. Schellenberg, emeriti professor of physical science, faculty alumni and friends to recognize an early career faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding work.
Dr. Francis Vasko
Chambliss Faculty Research Award (2005)
Before coming to Kutztown University in September 1986, he worked for more than eight years as an employee in the Research Department at Bethlehem Steel solving a variety of real-world applications in operations research. He then served as a consultant to Bethlehem Steel Corporation from September 1986 thru March 2003. Since 2003, he has also done consulting work for Graphic Packaging, Enterprise Systems Partners, Inc., and Solo Laboratories Inc. His current research focuses on using a large variety and combination of combinatorial optimization techniques in order to more accurately model and solve important real-world applications in production planning, strategic planning, and resource allocation.
The Chambliss award, inaugurated in 2004 through a gift from Dr. Carlson R. Chambliss, professor emeriti of physical science, is meant to recognize the very highest achievement in research and scholarship and can be awarded only once within a person's career.