Faculty Awards

The winner of this year’s Award for Excellence in Teaching is Professor Raoul Pacheco. Professor Pacheco is always looking for new opportunities to engage students, and encourages lifelong learning among his students. Students say his courses are challenging but he remains relatable. His nominator talked about his most recently developed course that focused on socially engaged art. He is helping students to learn how artists provoke dialogue, challenge norms, and inspire change in communities, institutions, and public spaces.

The winner of this year’s award for Excellence in RSCA is Dr. Christina Heckman. Dr. Heckman is noted by her colleagues for her exceptional production as a scholar as well as the quality of her work. She has completed her second monograph, Representing Work in Early Medieval Saints’ Lives. She has been invited by Liverpool University Press to submit a proposal for a third monograph, Embodied Places: Sacred Sites and Local Lives in Britain and Ireland. In addition to her multiple monographs, Dr. Heckman has published several peer-reviewed articles in notable journals in her field. She regularly presents at conferences around the world including the International Congress on Medieval Studies and the International Medieval Congress. Dr. Heckman is also dedicated to mentoring undergraduate researchers and has mentored dozens if not hundreds over the years. 

The winner of this year’s award for Excellence in Collegiality is Professor Latria Graham. Professor Graham is relatively new to us but is already well-known for her hospitality to faculty, staff, and students. She routinely gifts flowers and snacks to those who visit the break room on the East Wing of the second floor of Allgood Hall. She gives thoughtful notes and encouraging words to her colleagues, and welcomes all to her office. Her nominator wrote, “Latria’s hard work is also heart work. We are incredibly fortunate to have her at AU-even more so to have her as a colleague in Pamplin.” 

This year’s Excellence in Teaching by a Pamplin Lecturer Award is Professor Daphne Maysonet. Professor Maysonet regularly teaches English Composition, receiving praise from students and faculty alike for her teaching of this core course. Her chair wrote, “Students consistently praise her teaching. They note how she meets students where they are and makes writing seem unintimidating. They also appreciate how she ties writing to contemporary culture and makes classes interactive.” You will often see students lined up outside of Professor Maysonet’s office door, waiting to speak with her as she is on campus almost daily with her door open. In addition to the classroom, Professor Maysonet helped organize a partnership with the Jessye Norman School of the Arts in fall 2024 and the Young Writer’s program. 

This year’s winner of the William A. Bloodworth, Jr. Award for Excellence in Performance of Facilities Services goes to Mr. James Dailey. In his assignment as the Environmental Services Tech for Summerville/Forrest Hills Campus, he demonstrates a unique ability to provide great customer service with an eagerness and positive attitude. His manager notes that he is a “Shining Star” who is often commended by professors, students, and colleagues for his hard work on our campus. 

This year’s William A. Bloodworth, Jr. Award for Excellence in Part-Time Teaching goes to Arthur Takahashi. Professor Takahashi is particularly impressive as a part-time instructor because he teaches courses in two different Pamplin departments: the Department of Communication and the Department of Social Sciences. Dr. Bulla in the Department of Communication nominated him this year, where he has taught Audiovisual Media Production and Public Speaking in Communication. Students in these classes routinely praise his teaching and the work they produce in his classes is impressive. 

Professor Courtney Kalbacker (Music) “Defining the Defiant: A Guide to the Art Song and Opera of E. Adaïewsky (1846-1926) for  Performers, Teachers and Scholars.” 

Dr. Benjamin Ogrodnik (Art and Design) “Unraveling a Cotton Nation: Textile Histories and Women Artists of the Texas-Mexico Borderland.” 

Dr. Rhucha Samudra (Social Sciences) “Effect of Medicaid Expansion on Mental Health Outcomes.” 

• Dr. Carrie Reif-Stice (Communication)
• Dr. Robert Saunders (Music)

• Dr. Quentin Davis (Psychological Sciences), Summer 2025
• Dr. Vy Nguyen (Psychological Sciences), Summer 2025

• Dr. Richard Topolski (Psychological Sciences) AU Online Teaching Excellence Award 2024-2025
• Dr. Candis Bond (English and World Languages) AU Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award 2024-2025
• Dr. Giada Biasetti (English and World Languages) Richard S. Wallace Distinguished Service Award 2024-2025 

Dr. Meyer was honored as Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques (Knight in the Order of Academic Palms) from the Republic of France. 

Read more about the award

• Dr. Melissa Bemiller (Social Sciences) – Children's Hospital of Georgia – GA Trauma Commission ($25,000)
• Dr. Holly Pinheiro (History, Anthropology, and Philosophy) – Lady A Foundation Gift ($25,000)
• Anna Harris-Parker (English and World Languages) – Georgia Humanities Council ($25,000)
• Dr. Jay Heslen (Social Sciences) – NSF CyberCorps Scholarships for Service: Augusta University Developing Immersive Experiences for Novel Cybersecurity Education ($907,904)
• Pamplin College – Viceroy project - consortium - Arabic, Chinese, MAISS ($22,182)

• Dr. Melanie O’Meara (Art and Design) Leslie Irene Coger Award for Distinguished Performance, 2024. The National Communication Association 
• Ms. Latria Graham (English and World Languages) American Mosaic Journalism Prize, 2025. Heising-Simons Foundation. 

Dr. Seretha Williams, English and World Languages. Dr. Williams retired from Augusta University after 26 years and she is now the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies at Agnes Scott College.