Three UNC College of Arts and Sciences faculty members received mentoring awards from the Carolina Women’s Leadership Council May 10 at a Campus Y ceremony.
Sherryl Kleinman was honored for mentoring undergraduate students, and Silvia Tomášková was honored for mentoring junior faculty. Because the council added a third award this year, Jeanne Moskal was honored for mentoring graduate students. The awards include a $5,000 stipend.
The council, sponsor of the award, is a volunteer committee formed during the Carolina First Campaign, a major fund-raising drive that ended in 2007. Council members have raised $400,000 to endow the mentoring awards.
The awards recognize outstanding faculty members who make extra efforts to guide, mentor and lead others in making career decisions, embarking on research challenges and enriching their lives through public service, teaching and educational opportunities.
Kleinman is a professor of sociology, director of the social and economic justice minor and the faculty adviser to Feminist Students United. She has taught at UNC since 1980. Originally from Montreal, Quebec, she received a bachelor’s degree from McGill University (in Montreal), a master’s degree from McMaster University (in Hamilton, Ontario) and her doctorate from the University of Minnesota – all in sociology.
Kleinman’s nominators all said she manages to mentor all of her students, while tailoring her guidance to each individual. “Her class and her mentorship helped me to become mindful of how my actions impact others, and how I can contribute to making the world a more just place,” wrote one. “Throughout my four years at Carolina, I never met another professor who was so available and interested in helping students reach their goals.”
Tomášková, an associate professor, holds a joint appointment in the department of women’s and gender Studies and the department of anthropology. She teaches courses in both areas and directs the Women in Science program. She holds four degrees: a B.A. from McGill University, one M.A. from Yale and another from the University of California-Berkeley, and a Ph.D. from the University of California-Berkeley. She has taught at UNC since 2001.
Calling Tomášková a “first-rate scholar” and “phenomenal teacher,” nominators praised her drive and discipline, and mentioned that she created a monthly junior faculty mentoring group. “For both new faculty members looking to integrate into the department and the University, and for advanced junior faculty navigating the tenure process, Silvia’s contributions have been invaluable,” one wrote.
Moskal, a professor of English, has taught at UNC since 1984. A scholar of the British Romantic period, she earned a B.A. degree from Santa Clara University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington.
“Professor Moskal takes professionalization of graduate students extremely seriously,” one nominator wrote. “She also models and inculcates the values that make the humanities matter: curiosity, openness to dialogue, research and social ethics, and understanding of the human as a holistic being.”
First awarded in 2006, the Faculty Mentoring Awards are open to tenured and tenure-track faculty, as well as fixed-term faculty who have taught at UNC for at least three years. A selection committee appointed by the executive vice chancellor and provost reviews and recommends the award recipients.
