Excellence in Scholarship Award

The FCSM Excellence in Scholarship Award recognizes a faculty member for sustained interest and continued success in advancing the scholarship of their discipline.

This year’s recipient has established a strong research record since arriving at Towson University in 2015.  Our awardee’s research efforts have been directed in the areas of igneous petrology, high-temperature geochemistry, East African Rift volcanism and deformation, and past and present influence of subduction on the continental lithosphere.  Since joining TU, she has published 10 research articles, advised 13 TU undergraduate students, and contributed eight conference proceedings with undergraduate students as lead authors.

During this time, she has been successful in acquiring external funding.  The main source of external funding has come from four National Science Foundation grants.  Our awardee is widely recognized nationally and internationally, as an expert in her field.  She has mentored a large of number of undergraduate and graduate students, some of which have been included as co-authors in presentations and publications.  Very recently, our recipient traveled to Rwanda to collect lava samples.  Our recipient demonstrates a commitment to his/her profession through service and has reviewed 12 articles for peer-reviewed journals and served on two review panels or reviewed proposals for NSF and NASA.

Currently, our awardee holds the position of Jess and Mildred Fisher Endowed Chair in the Biological and Physical Sciences, as well as an appointment as a Visiting Investigator at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism.

Please, join me in offering congratulations to Dr. Wendy Nelson from the Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Geosciences as our 2019 winner of the FCSM Excellence in Scholarship Award.

(As presented by Associate Dean Vonnie Shields at the Fisher College of Science and Mathematics Forum on December 5, 2019.)