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Provost's Awards for Excellence

2020-2021 Awardees

2020-2021 Awardees Joanne Sohn, Chantal E. Stieber, and Seema Shah-Fairbank

Excellence in Teaching

Joanne Sohn is an Associate Professor who joined the Animal and Veterinary Sciences Department in 2014. She is the director of the Animal Health Science program and has worked as a veterinarian for over twenty years. Dr. Sohn has developed multiple hands-on learning opportunities to help solidify academic knowledge, including the semi-annual Spa Day/Vaccine clinic. Her passion for international travel has led her to take her students on trips to Thailand and South Africa. As a result of her numerous grants, the on-campus veterinary teaching lab is equipped with some of the most up-to-date equipment and technology. She received the College of Agriculture Teacher of the Year award in 2016.

Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Activities

Chantal Stieber, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, joined Cal Poly Pomona in 2015. She pursues environmentally conscious research that investigates ways to reduce pollutants, examines methods for responsible pharmaceutical and agrochemical synthesis, and explores ways to eliminate nuclear waste. Dr. Stieber has received several prestigious grants since joining the CPP faculty, including a $600,000 Department of Defense grant to purchase an X-ray diffractometer used in determining molecular structure, and an $475,000 NSF CAREER grant, “in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through research and education.” She is currently mentoring 17 students in her laboratory. Students say that her mentorship has given them a sense of purpose and inspiration to pursue their goals. One of her graduate students, Justin Cortez, received an Exemplary Oral Presentation award at the 2021 RSCA Conference and represented the university at the CSU Student Research Competition. 

Excellence in Service

Seema Shah-Fairbank is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and licensed civil engineer. She has been active at the department, university, and larger engineering community. From 2017 to 2019 she served as the inaugural Faculty Director for Assessment and Program Review.  Among her accomplishments include the collection of assessment evidence for the core competencies and the GE student learning outcomes, helped to increase faculty engagement with assessment, and improved the program review process.  She continues to serve as the Faculty Fellow for Program Review but refocus her time back in the department where she teaches courses at both the undergraduate and graduate program in water resource engineering.  Seema has served as the faculty advisor for the Cal Poly Pomona student section of the American Society of Civil Engineering and is currently the Los Angeles Section President.