Professor Asao Inoue, an associate professor of English, has been awarded the top teaching honor at Fresno State.

William A. Covino, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, named Inoue as recipient of the 2012 Excellence in Teaching Award.

The Provost’s Awards announced Tuesday, May 1, also honored:

  • Amanda Adams, assistant professor of Psychology, recipient of the Faculty Service Award
  • Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, professor of Modern and Classical Languages, Gradvuate Teaching and Mentoring Award
  • William Bommer, professor of Management, Research, Scholarship and Creative Accomplishment Award
  • Bryan Berrett, associate professor of Communicative Disorders and Deaf Studies, Technology in Education Award.

Four faculty members received the Promising New Faculty award, recognizing exemplary achievements in teaching, research/creative activities and/or service among nontenured, tenure-track faculty. The honorees are:

  • Juan-Carlos Gonzalez, assistant professor of Educational Research and Administration.
  • Elizabeth Payne, assistant professor of Theatre Arts.
  • Jason Bush, assistant professor of Biology.
  • Kim Youngwook, assistant professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Asao Inoue, associate professor of English, receives the Excellence in Teaching Award. He has been at Fresno State since 2007. He approaches the challenge of teaching high-level writing skills with an innovative pedagogy that emphasizes students’ roles in their own education. He frequently asks students to evaluate and challenge traditional instructional environments and to examine alterna­tive teaching methods that foster greater individual success. One important aspect of his teaching philosophy is getting students to talk about their writing in rhetorical and reflexive ways. Inoue’s on-campus service includes work as organizer and facilitator for the Symposium on Remediation in English and as a committee member for the Improving Student Writing Initiative, Criterion As­sessment Committee. His community service includes work as curriculum designer, teacher, and program assessment coordinator for University 20 (Academic Reading course), Summer Bridge Program, and the Educational Opportunity Program. He has active memberships in the Con­ference on College Composition and Communication, National Council of Teachers of English, Asian American Studies Association, Rhetoric Society of America, and Council of Writing Program Administrators. In 2000, he received the Faculty Development Seminar Award. His national hon­ors and awards include the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship for Minorities in 2003.

Amanda Adams, assistant professor of Psychology, receives the Faculty Service Award. She has been at Fresno State since 2006. Her passion for helping families who have children with autism drives her to create opportunities for students’ development, both as practitioners of applied behavior analysis and as researchers that disseminate new knowledge. She has worked tirelessly to develop and secure support for the Central California Autism Center (CCAC) on campus. The center pro­vides opportunities for students to learn to apply Applied Behavior Analysis principles, conduct research, and learn important professional skills. Adams provides important service to the local community by educating practitioners who treat autism, families who are affected by autism, and policy makers who develop programs and provide financial support for treating autism. For four years, she has worked with students to plan and implement Autism Awareness Field Day. She is involved in other awareness/fundraising events, including the CCAC Gala Fundraiser and annual golf tournament. She is a member of the California Chapter of the Association for Applied Behav­ior Analysis and received the Provost’s Award for Promising New Faculty in 2009.

Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, professor of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, receives the Graduate Teaching and Mentoring Award. He has been at Fresno State since 2000 and has a well-established record of exceptional graduate teaching. Jiménez-Sandoval has been a driving force in the development of the Spanish M.A. curriculum, personally developing and teaching five new seminars for the program. In his teaching, he stresses the basic human emotions of love, despair, and hope. He is described as a prolific thesis director and has served on the Spanish M.A. exam com­mittee each semester since his arrival. Jiménez-Sandoval believes in students’ ability to push them­selves and excel. His students have been accepted to Ph.D. programs at UCLA, Irvine, Berkeley, Stanford, Arizona, British Columbia, and Alberta. He was the recipient of the 2003-04 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Award. Through his exemplary scholarship, he serves as a model of the teacher-scholar to students and faculty. His public lectures include the 2005 International Coffee Hour presentation on the sacred role of poetry in Aztec culture, and his articles include his recent publication on the canonical Mexican coming-of-age novel, Las batallas en el desierto

William Bommer, professor of Management, receives the Research, Scholarship and Creative Ac­complishments Award. He has been at Fresno State since 2008. Bommer uses his research on a regular basis in the classroom. His research spans a number of topics in the field of manage­ment and applied psychology. Two primary areas of research for which he is known internationally are the areas of transformational leadership and organizational citizenship. Widely published, his research is impressive. His work is commonly cited in college texts and is regularly assigned in doctoral-level seminars. In the past two years, he has been the principal investigator on three dif­ferent external grants. These grants have totaled more than $600,000. His work has been used for doctoral training in the fields of management, psychology, marketing, education, and management information systems. He also served as the outside expert on two different dissertation committees in Australia.

Bryan Berrett, associate professor of Communicative Disorders and Deaf Studies, receives the Technology in Education Award. He has been at Fresno State since 1998. In 2010, he was one of four CSU faculty to be awarded Sony’s multimedia award. Berrett has demonstrated tremendous leadership in the use of technology at Fresno State, particularly in the development of online classes. He has established a remarkable track record of innovative and practical uses of technol­ogy. For example, over the last several years, he has been the recipient of multiple Digital Campus grants to convert traditional classes into online course offerings. He coordinates the sign language interpreting program, which now has approximately 30 percent of its coursework offered online. He also has integrated the use of audio and visual multimedia into the American Sign Language computer lab. Most recently, Berrett has been the department’s leader in converting the education graduate program into an 80 percent online 20 percent face-to-face format.

Promising New Faculty Awards 2011-2012

Juan-Carlos Gonzalez, assistant professor of Educational Research and Administration, has been at Fresno State since 2009. A skilled professor and scholar, he has fully engaged in service to the university and the community. He serves on multiple editorial boards for peer-reviewed journals and as a proposal reviewer on a national level. He has been active in accreditation activities, chaired the International Committee, and organized a faculty study trip to Costa Rica. Gonzalez has mentored a McNair Scholar and worked with the Central California Children’s Institute on research projects. He is an enthusiastic participant in the life of the Kremen School and the university as a whole. In addition to his regular courses, he has taught classes in qualitative research methods and critical race theory in education. He has already published four articles and presented at 23 conferences in the United States. He has also presented in China and in Mexico. Gonzalez has received numerous awards and honors, including the Dandoyd Research Award for spring 2012.

Elizabeth Payne, assistant professor of Theatre Arts, has been at Fresno State since 2008. A highly tal­ented designer, she continues to work professionally in theatre in New York and in television, where she has consulted on the Conan O’Brien Show. She brings to Fresno State her considerable skills in design, teaching, mentorship, and community outreach. She is a demanding teacher who has transformed the existing costume design and technology courses and created new ones, such as Costume History and Design Focus on Film. Seamlessly integrating social and political issues into her discussion of fashion, she demonstrates to students why broad cultural knowledge is crucial to successful design work. Her classes bring together academics and practical, skill-based training. Payne has also been proactive in generating grants, including a Fresno State Enhancing Student Information Literacy Grant, which she integrated into her Costume History class. In the area of mentorship, she has had considerable impact — her door is open to all. She is the recipient of the 2012 Fresno County Board of Education Artist in Residence Grant.

Jason Bush, assistant professor of Biology, has been at Fresno State since 2006. Bush has enriched the university environment through his service and demonstrated excellence and leadership within the Biol­ogy Department, the College of Science and Mathematics, and the university, with service on the Cur­riculum Committee and the Graduate Scholarship Committee. Bush is one of the leading researchers in cancer and proteomic research. He has made 31 presentations since his arrival. Through Dr. Bush’s 20 national collaborations, he has been able to extend Fresno State resources to develop a broader and resource-rich environment for his students. He has received $1.5 million in national grants from five externally funded proposals, including NIH, American Cancer Society, Keep-A-Breast Foundation, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and CSUPERB. Bush was also a co-principal investigator in the $4.5 million RIMI grant for the development of a research facility in the Central Valley. In addition to ex­ternal funding, he has augmented his research with $120,000 in internal grants. He is a consultant and grant reviewer for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, as well as an active member of the University of California, San Francisco-Fresno Research Group.

Youngwook Kim, assistant professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been at Fresno State since 2008, demonstrating his dedication to high quality teaching, research and creative activities, and student involvement in his research. He has taught a wide repertoire of undergraduate and graduate courses focusing primarily on high frequency electronics. Through online methodology, he provides students with the opportunity to learn at their own pace. Kim’s research focuses on electromagnetics and the application of Doppler and ultra-wide band radar systems to human detection applications, such as security, surveillance operations, and search-and-rescue missions. While at Fresno State, he has published several journal papers and six conference papers. His research totals $167,659 in external funding. Currently, Kim is preparing a proposal on data fusion and target sensing models in wireless sensor network environments. He is also serving as a grant development chair for the Untenured Faculty Organization and is a member of the Professional Development Committee, the Honors Committee, and the Research and Grant Review Committee within the Lyles College of Engineering.