Indiana State University Newsroom

Indiana State University honored nine educators during its annual Faculty Recognition Banquet Tuesday (April 17) at Hulman Memorial Student Union.

President Dan Bradley presented the President's Medal, the university's highest award for faculty, to Steven Lamb, professor of operations management and analysis and chair of the university's Faculty Senate, and Greg Bierly, associate professor of geography and director of the university's honors program.

Lamb has served Indiana State and its students for 42 years, serving as a professor and department chair in the Scott College of Business.

Bradley said Lamb "has led as an advocate for faculty and shared governance and a true ambassador for Indiana State University as chairperson of the Faculty Senate and its executive committee several times throughout his tenure; has worked diligently with the faculty and administration, using persuasion and compromise, without sacrificing principle, to create a positive environment for the advancement of the institution."

Lamb has also shown his dedication to leadership and service as a member of many and various college-level and university wide committees, the university's Enrollment Task Force, Affordability Task Force, United Way Campaign Committee and a governor's task force to recommend faculty nominees to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.

"I will always appreciate the faculty for allowing me to serve the university in the capacity of chair of the Faculty Senate," said Lamb. "That provided me a mechanism for me to be able to contribute to ISU, the institution that I cherish!"

Lamb's previous honors at Indiana State include the 2008 Faculty Distinguished Service Award, 2007 Faculty Recognition Award for exemplary service in the Scott College, 2007 recognition for Outstanding Support and Dedication to Support Staff, and a 1997 resolution from the university president and Board of Trustees for exemplary leadership to the university. He also received the 2007 Faculty Senate Award for Outstanding Leadership, Service and Dedication to Faculty Governance.

Bradley praised Bierly for exceptional service to the university and its students during his 17 years at Indiana State.

Bierly has "inspired and challenged" students in the department of earth and environmental systems through a "creative, innovative and engaging approach to teaching," Bradley said. The university's president said Bierly, also an Indiana State alumnus, is a dedicated academic advisor who also plays a key role in new student orientation "by working closely with high achieving students and offering students an opportunity to explore new cultures through cross educational opportunities and to grapple with important global and national issues such as poverty and inequity in education."

Bradley went on to cite Bierly's service to academia by co-authoring two books and numerous refereed articles and chapters and extramural grants and serving as director of the university's Earth and Environmental Systems Climate Laboratory, "where he focused on creating robust opportunities for student experiential learning."

Bierly also "has a sustained and substantial commitment to serving the university" by service in and leadership of numerous decision-making panels, including the recent Affordability Task Force, Faculty Senate, Unbounded Possibilities Committee, and a Strategic Planning subcommittee, Bradley noted.

In his role as University Honors director, Bradley said, Bierly "is recognized by all as being the heart and soul of the program."

Bierly's previous honors include the College of Arts and Sciences Educational Excellence Award in 2000 and the Office of Residential Life Outstanding First-Year Faculty Award in 2007 and 2011.

"I am thrilled to receive this award," Bierly said of the 2012 President's Medal. "This recognition is especially humbling to me in the company of many truly deserving colleagues, as well as the admirable past recipients of the award. I am personally inspired, every day, to work alongside so many extremely generous, talented and tireless partners - faculty, staff and students. Indiana State is a special university to me; as a student, and now as a faculty member, I have seen the intensity with which it propels students toward their dreams. I can't imagine anything more exciting or rewarding than playing a small part in that endeavor.

Photo: http://isuphoto.smugmug.com/photos/273791835_EDGYe-L.jpg - Steven Lamb

Photo: http://isuphoto.smugmug.com/photos/129254441_8HpEQ-L.jpg - Greg Bierly

Media contact: Dave Taylor, media relations director, Office of Communications and Marketing, Indiana State University, 812-237-3743 or dave.taylor@indstate.edu