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Outstanding Faculty Mentors at Pomona College Recognized
With Fellowships |
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Pomona College, one of the nation’s premier liberal arts
colleges, has recognized three of its faculty members for
their outstanding work as mentors and advisors to students
of color, students from economically disadvantaged
backgrounds and first-generation college students.
Professors Erica Flapan, Jill Grigsby and Adolfo Rumbos were
named the 2005 Irvine Distinguished Faculty Fellows, at the
college’s March 11, 2005 faculty meeting. Each fellow is
awarded $7,000 to support their research and teaching.
Erica Flapan, a professor of math who has taught at Pomona
College since 1986, was honored for creating the course
Problem Solving in the Sciences, after seeing her students
struggle in Calculus I. More than half of the students
taking the course are students of color and her hard work to
“counteract any feelings students may have of isolation or
insecurity” was commended. Students and faculty have
testified that the mentoring she has done with those
enrolled in the class has contributed to the students’ sense
of belonging and ultimate success at Pomona College.
Jill Grigsby, the Richard Steele Professor of Social
Sciences and a professor of sociology, was recognized for
her work in Pomona’s community outreach programs. A member
of the Pomona faculty since 1983, she created a program
through which local senior citizens can audit Pomona College
classes, ranging from economics and ancient philosophy to a
variety of options in physical education. Since its
inception four years ago, she has coordinated the auditing
program. Last summer, she joined the faculty of the
college’s Summer Scholars Enrichment Program (SSEP), an
academically intensive program for high school students from
racially and economically diverse groups. In her data
analysis course, students learned how to access 2000 U.S.
Census data and compared information for their home or
school neighborhoods to national statistics.
Adolfo Rumbos, an associate professor of math, has taught at
Pomona College since 1991. He was honored for his dedication
to teaching in Pomona’s academic summer programs targeting
students of color. Beginning the summer after he joined
Pomona, he has taught in a variety of summer programs
ranging from the Summer Science Institute to SSEP, where he
is a regular participant. Shahriar Shahriari, chair of the
Pomona College Math Department, says that more than “anyone
else at Pomona, Rumbos has attracted students of color to
the mathematical sciences.” Rumbos was also recognized for
his work creating new teaching methods for the course Math
29, concentrating on problem-solving among students in small
groups, which he believes is a more effective way to teach
math at the introductory level.
The Irvine Distinguished Faculty Fellowship awards were made
possible as part of a major grant to Pomona College from the
James Irvine Foundation's Campus Diversity Initiative in
2002. Part of the CDI grant provided for 15 faculty
fellowships to be awarded over a period of three years,
beginning in 2003. The selection of the fellowship
recipients was made by a committee composed of Pomona
faculty, staff and students.
Pomona College, the most highly regarded liberal arts
college on the West Coast, offers a comprehensive program in
the arts, humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.
Its hallmarks include small classes, close relationships
between students and faculty, and a range of student
research opportunities. For more information on Pomona
College, visit www.pomona.edu. |
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