Pomona has recognized five of its professors for outstanding work as mentors and advisers to students of color, students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and first-generation college students. Those faculty members--George Gorse, professor of art; Marcelle Holmes, assistant professor of psychology and Black Studies; Daniel O'Leary, associate professor of chemistry; Ami Radunskaya, associate professor of mathematics; and Valorie Thomas, assistant professor of English--were named as the 2004 Irvine Distinguished Faculty Fellows. Each fellowship includes a stipend of $7,000.

"The awarding of the fellowship," explained Gary Kates, dean of the college, "is meant to recognize and honor the important work of mentoring our students. These faculty members have been truly outstanding in that regard."

The Irvine Distinguished Faculty Fellowship awards were made possible as part of a major grant from the James Irvine Foundation's Campus Diversity Initiative in 2002.

The first awards were made in 2003. The recipients were: Clarissa Cheney, associate professor of biology; Roberto Garza-López, associate professor of chemistry; Sharon Goto, associate professor of psychology; Phyllis Jackson, associate professor of art history and Black Studies; Sidney Lemelle, associate professor of history and Black Studies; Gilda Ochoa, assistant professor of sociology and Chicana/o Studies; and Miguel Tinker Salas, associate professor of history, Chicano/a and Latin American Studies.