The Boise State University Foundation will honor Boise State faculty members Shelton Woods, Mark Schmitz and Henry Charlier with 2018 University Foundation Scholar Awards at its annual board meeting on April 25. These prestigious awards honor Boise State faculty who have demonstrated ongoing commitment, expertise and accomplishments in teaching, research and creative activity, or professionally related service.
The recipients will receive a $3,000 honorarium from the foundation and their names will be added to a display showing all recipients of the Foundation Scholar Awards since 1992 on the first floor of the Student Union Building near the main staircase.
“The Boise State University Foundation is pleased to have an opportunity to recognize the Foundation Scholar Award recipients and the contributions made by faculty members at Boise State,” said Paul Powell, foundation executive director. “It is our faculty who create a rich learning environment for our students, advance the boundaries of knowledge and serve their professions. Our ability to shine as a university in all of these areas is what makes Boise State a great place for students to learn and for our faculty and staff to work.”
Shelton Woods, Teaching Award
Shelton Woods is an esteemed and dedicated professor of history at Boise State. His students’ success is his priority and he ensures this by finding the best means possible to create passionate and engaged students through interactive and new teaching methods. His expertise in the area of history lends to his passion for teaching as he has written numerous books, journals and articles focusing on the history of East and Southeast Asia.
He has proven to be a role model among his students, as student attendance has never faulted. The success mostly can be attributed to his charisma and dedication toward his students, as well as the methods in which he uses to engage and challenge his students. He was one of the first at Boise State to adopt “Turning Technologies” as well as more discussion-based class styles. His teaching style has proven to be successful for many of the students that take his classes Woods has been the honored professor of Boise State Top 10 Scholars as well as sent many students on to doctoral programs and to become distinguished professors, themselves. He has been nominated for the Golden Apple Awards every year.
Mark Schmitz, Research and Creative Activity Award
Mark Schmitz is a professor in the Department of Geosciences at Boise State University. He also serves as the director of Boise State’s Isotope Geology laboratory, is a key participant in the National Science
Foundation, and a constant speaker and presenter to Boise area schools. He is known nationally as well as internationally for his work and research on the environment and climate change and how it impacts evolution and extinction.
As a well-respected international expert in his field, Schmitz has published 83 peer-reviewed manuscripts that have helped shape understanding of a wide variety of topics in Earth sciences and has received more than $4 million in research funding. He has shared his expertise as a participant in the National Science Foundation and a distinguished lecturer at varying universities and organizations around the world, such as the University of Utrecht and the University of Geneva. Schmitz has been cited almost 13,000 times by researchers and authors from around the world as his research has served a crucial role to the geosciences community. He shows his passion for sharing his knowledge by being the founder and director of Boise State’s Isotope Geology, a world-renowned facility known by many in the geoscience community.
Henry Charlier, Service Award
Henry Charlier is a senior member of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He is known to many as a role model and mentor as well as an excellent leader in the world of education. Charlier is not only known for his service to the Boise State community, but also to young scientists all over the Treasure Valley and the country through his STEM-Centered YouTube Channel and
his Dr. Picklestein persona. Dr. Picklestein has presented to groups from 25-600 and has reached more than 36,000 individuals. He has visited more than 250 locations locally including elementary schools, public libraries, the Discovery Center and Boise State University. Dr. Picklestein truly has made an impact on young and old scientists alike.
One colleague wrote, “As a STEM ambassador at Boise State University, Henry was a part of the founding of the IDoTeach program and served as the co-director. This program helps STEM majors become certified to teach science in grade schools. Henry has served an important role in creating and implementing events such as Engineering Day, STEM Exploration Day, and STEM Academy. A lot of the success that Boise State has seen from STEM students and the increase in graduation rates are because of advocates for this program like Dr. Charlier.”