Indiana State University Newsroom

Three Indiana State University professors with decades of educational experience will be awarded the university’s highest award, the President’s Medal, at the Faculty Recognition Banquet on April 20th.

The 2023 recipients are Dr. Chris MacDonald, Dr. Timothy Hawkins, and Dr. Liz Brown.

Dr. MacDonald, Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Clinical and Educational Sciences, has been at ISU for 30 years. She has been very active in shared governance, serving on a wide variety of university committees and initiatives, and was chosen as Chair of the Faculty Senate on two occasions (2015-2016 and 2019-2020). In her latter term, she was instrumental in helping to guide the university through the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and the move to online instruction for the last part of the spring 2020 semester. She teaches various courses, from first-year classes to doctoral seminars in her area of expertise. As department chairperson, MacDonald has led efforts for the accreditation of multiple programs with several different bodies, and she oversees the interdisciplinary Grosjean Clinic.

Dr. Hawkins, a Professor in the Department of History, is in his twenty-third year at ISU. He has served twice as Chair of the Faculty Senate, 2016-2017 and 2018-2019, in addition to numerous roles on other Senate committees, the Senate Executive Committee, and special initiatives. He is an internationally acclaimed scholar in the field of Imperial Spain and the independence period in Latin America, having published two major books and numerous articles in multiple languages. Hawkins served as President of the Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies after twice receiving its prestigious Sturgis Leavitt Award for Best Article; he has received a Mellon Research Grant and a Fulbright Fellowship for research in Guatemala. He teaches various courses on Latin American history and Latin American studies, at multiple levels, both in person and online.

Dr. Brown, Professor and Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, has been at ISU for twenty-two years. She has excelled in teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels in Mathematics, Foundational Studies, and Honors in offering 38 unique courses, efforts that have led her to be recognized in 2009 with the College of Arts and Sciences Education Excellence Award and the Outstanding Dedication to First Year Student Success Award, as well as the Caleb Mills Award in 2011. She has maintained a steady pace of scholarly production while serving as Department chair and as Chair of the Faculty Senate, 2017-2018 and 2020-2021, and in numerous other university and college positions of leadership, including Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. While Chair of her Department, Brown has overseen the expansion of online graduate programs in Mathematics and the creation of new degree programs in Mathematics Education and Data Science.

The President’s Medal was established in 1996 and is awarded to faculty members demonstrating extraordinary service to Indiana State University.

Photo of Dr. MacDonald

Photo of Dr. Hawkins

Photo of Dr. Brown