Outstanding Professors Named at Fall Faculty Day Event

For the second year since its opening, the beautiful Luckman Theatre was the site of the annual Fall Faculty Day presentation, where new faculty members are introduced to the campus community and returning faculty are welcomed back at the start of the academic year.

The University's commitment to new information technology was the focus of a high-tech computer presentation, unveiling campus use of the World Wide Web. School deans announced the names of their new faculty members, whose WWW "home pages," complete with graphics, were shown on a large screen to an audience of more than 500 faculty, administrators and staff. The program, presided over by Margaret Hartman (Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs), introduced the audience to innovative University programs and outlined campus renovations.

Outstanding Professors

A highlight of the gathering was the traditional recognition of four Cal State L.A. Outstanding Professors for 1993-94 and announcement of the CSU Outstanding Professor - an award that, beginning this year, honors a professor at each CSU campus who is distinguished for superlative teaching.

The CSLA Outstanding Professor Award (OPA) is the highest faculty honor the University bestows and is granted for continuing excellence in teaching, research and contributions to higher education.

Honored as 1994-95 Outstanding Professors were Mohammad Ala, professor of management, School of Business and Econonomics; Helen Boussalis, professor of electrical engineering, School of Engineering and Technology; Judith Hamera, associate professor of speech communication, School of Arts and Letters; Carole Srole, associate professor of history, School of Natural and Social Sciences. William Cohen, professor of marketing, School of Business and Economics, was selected as the University's CSU Outstanding Professor.

Announcing the honorees was Peter Brier (English), Chair of this year's OPA Committee on which he served with Barbara Boyer (Art), Stanley Burstein (History), Roberto Cant£ (Chicano Studies), and James Wiebe (Educational Foundations and Interdivisional Studies).

Speaking for the OPA committee, Brier said, "Choosing five distinguished teachers from such an impressive array of candidates was an inspiring but challenging task. Teaching was the primary consideration, but what we found was that the finest teachers are universally accomplished that teaching, research, and service, when excellent, are not only interrelated, but constitute a certain kind of person."

Quoting Shakespeare, Brier praised this year's recipients for their - "infinite variety - a nimble and high intelligence, profound learning and brilliant energy, a love of people, the innate capacity to profess in original ways, and integrity."