Sept. 18, 2003

Contact: Hodgie Bricke, International Programs, (785) 864-6161.

2 KU faculty share Provost's Award for Leadership in International Education

LAWRENCE -- Winners of the 2003 Provost's Award for Leadership in International Education at the University of Kansas were announced Sept. 11 by David Shulenburger, KU provost and executive vice chancellor.

Garth Myers, associate professor of geography and African and African-American studies, and Robert Timm, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and curator of the division of mammals in KU's Natural History Museum, shared the 2003 Provost's Award for Leadership in International Education.

For the third time since it was established in 1999, two faculty members shared the provost's award. The award recognizes faculty on the Lawrence campus who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in strengthening KU's international dimension in such areas as curriculum development, study abroad programs, relationships with international partner institutions, and collaboration with international colleagues in significant research and publications.

Myers was recognized for his extensive activities in establishing teaching and research collaborations with faculty at the University of Zambia. His work in Zambia has been supported with funding from the U.S. Department of State University Affiliations program. Myers also has forged links for KU in Tanzania, with the University of Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar State University. He has been instrumental in development of a series of graduate certificates in African studies that soon will be available to KU graduate students. He has received two Fulbright awards to Tanzania. Myers joined the KU faculty in 1995. He received a bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College in Maine and a master's degree and doctorate from the University of California-Los Angeles.

Timm was recognized for his teaching and organization work in the establishment of a tropical ecology program in Costa Rica through the Organization for Tropical Studies and for his recent work in South Africa with the same organization. In the past year, Timm has traveled to Costa Rica three times, teaching and conducting research on tropical mammals and their conservation. With his colleagues he has received numerous National Science Foundation grants. Timm has been at KU since 1986. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Kearney and master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Minnesota.

Past recipients were: Tom Mulinazzi, chair of civil, environmental and architectural engineering, and Charles Stanisfer, professor of history (1999); Leo Villalon, political science and African and African-American studies (2002); Judith McCrea, chair of art and design (2001); Melissa Birch, associate professor of business, and Diane Fourny, associate professor of French and European studies (2003).