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Provost's Awards for Excellence

2012-2013 Awardees

2012-2013 Awardees Laurie Starkey, Vilupanur Ravi, and Ernie Simpson

Excellence in Teaching

Laurie Starkey, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has developed innovative teaching techniques for organic chemistry and adapted them for online learning. She has authored a textbook and also created a YouTube chemistry channel for teachers and for students of all ages. Starkey includes peer reviews in her courses, making students part of the teaching process. She has won the Distinguished Teaching Award and twice received the Science Council Advisor of the Year award. Starkey also has served on the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching editorial board and the GRE-Chemistry Committee of Examiners. 

Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Activities

Vilupanur Ravi, Professor of Chemical and Materials Engineering, is a world-class materials scientist who has pioneered research on the mechanical properties of thermoelectric materials, pack cementation coatings and the environmental resistance of boron-modified titanium alloys. Ravi is co-inventor on 11 U.S. and 13 international patents. He has conducted interdisciplinary research with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Air Force Research Laboratory and many others. Ravi won the Outstanding Advisor of the Year Award in 2006. He served on the  board of trustees of ASM International, the Materials Information Society. Ravi is also past president of Alpha Sigma Mu, the international professional honor society for materials science and engineering. 

Excellence in Service

Ernie Simpson has served as Chemistry Department chairman, graduate studies coordinator, and developer and chief advisor for the industrial chemistry option. He also served on numerous committees and was a reader of the Graduate Writing Test for many years. Simpson founded the College of Science’s Cooperative Education Program in 1978 and oversaw it until 2001, placing 300 students per year at more than 125 companies. He is an American Chemical Society fellow and organized annual conferences for several professional organizations. Simpson was a principal investigator on Cal Poly Pomona contracts, grants and philanthropic funding, totaling more than $4 million.