More than 200 community members gathered in the School of Education’s Great Hall on May 20 for the sixth annual Society of Excellence Awards, which recognize outstanding teaching and scholarly achievement. During the gala Monday evening event, the school bestowed its highest honors on 19 faculty members, alumni, and degree candidates.
AWARD WINNERS
At the School of Education’s 2019 Society of Excellence Awards ceremony, awards were presented to the following faculty, alumni, and degree candidates:
Johns Hopkins Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award
Presented to outstanding faculty, based on nominations by current students.
Carey Borkowski, EdD ’16
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AWARDS
Al Thormeyer Award
Awarded to a Master of Arts in Teaching student who exemplifies the spirit and dedication of its namesake.
Shacora Eubanks
Dianne Tobin Memorial Award
School of Education faculty created this award in her honor to recognize those who have demonstrated excellence in teaching.
Connie Lin, BA ’15, MAT ’17
Gillian Richter
Edward F. Pajak, Jr. Award
Awarded to an alumna/us of the School of Education’s EdD program. The recipient is a K–12 school leader who has demonstrated visionary leadership through the application of progressive educational theory to the practice of serving communities, families, and youth.
Jennifer Lamia, MS ’18
The MEHP Alumni Award
Awarded to an alumna/us who has demonstrated impact in the global transformation of health professions education through scholarship, leadership, and commitment to excellence.
Stephen M. Sozio, BA ’98, MD ’02, MEHP ’17
Phyllis P. McDonald Award for Excellence in Leadership
Awarded to a student or alumna/us whose professional contributions reflect a commitment to education, justice, and integrity in organizational leadership.
Angela Lee
STUDENT EXCELLENCE AWARDS
EdD
Sara Donaldson
PhD
Elizabeth Humberstone
MEHP
Joanne Rolls
Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Pooja Deshpande
School Counseling
Nina Savage
Educational Studies, TFA/TNTP
Dominique Godat
Educational Studies, Interdisciplinary
Connie Sanabria
Educational Studies, Urban Teachers
Molly Rothschild
Administration and Supervision
Natalie A. Williams
Special Education
Kim Hymes
Intelligence Analysis
Rachel Todd
Organizational Leadership (Master’s)
Matthew William Corell
Organizational Leadership (Bachelor’s)
David W. Kitzinger
Since 1992, the Johns Hopkins Alumni Association has presented the Excellence in Teaching Award to outstanding faculty, based on nominations by current students. This year, for the first time, the award went to a faculty member who teaches exclusively online: Carey Borkoski, EdD ’16, an assistant professor in the school’s Doctor of Education program.
Dean Christopher Morphew found Borkoski’s success in online teaching “even more impressive because of her ability to engage students in the foundational courses of statistics, data analysis, and research methods,” which typically prove a hurdle for many a doctoral student. Borkoski received 15 nominations for the award from students, who called her “an inspirational teacher who finds ways to empower her students, give them a voice, and challenge them to reach their full potential,” among other superlatives.
Another EdD graduate and online learning specialist, Jennifer Lamia, EdD ’18, received the Edward F. Pajak Award, given to a K–12 school leader who has demonstrated visionary leadership through the application of progressive educational theory. Recently promoted to superintendent of Byram Hills Central School District in New York, Lamia was commended by Stephen Pape for her leadership in “empowering every member of the school community to reflect, refine, and create learning goals and opportunities.”
Adjunct Professor Cathie Weber presented a Diane Tobin Memorial Award for excellence in teaching to Connie Lin, MAT ’17, now a first-grade teacher in Howard County Public Schools. Lin entered the school’s Master of Arts in Teaching program as a Baltimore Teaching Fellow, direct from her Johns Hopkins undergraduate experience. In commending her personal impact as a teacher, Weber insisted that Lin join her on stage. “Look at Connie’s smile,” Weber said. “This is the smile she wore every day at Henderson-Hopkins during her two internship experiences—and every night in class. This smile represents Connie’s persistence, dedication, and desire to excel.”
The school also recognized 13 outstanding degree candidates who had demonstrated academic excellence, leadership, and collaboration with peers in their areas of study.
One of these recipients, master’s degree candidate in clinical mental health counseling Pooja Deshpande, will soon take on an important role in the Johns Hopkins Zero TB in Tibetan Kids project. Supported by a grant from the Alliance for a Healthier World, the cross-disciplinary collaboration seeks to eradicate tuberculosis among the Tibetan refugee children living in India—nearly one in five of whom suffers from the disease. Deshpande will travel with the team to India in August to collect data to inform the development of interventions for the children. Deshpande was praised by Counseling Program Director Anita Young for embodying “the knowledge, skills, spirit, and competence of a young professional, with a moral compass that’s attuned to multicultural and social-justice issues.”
