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Marina Budhos, professor of English, Christian Holle, associate professor of psychology, and Susanna Tardi, professor of sociology, were honored as the recipients of the 2019 Faculty Excellence Awards, which were presented during the University’s 2019 Undergraduate Commencement ceremony on May 15 at the Prudential Center in Newark.
The three honorees were recognized by Interim Provost Sandra DeYoung, who read their citations and presented the awards. Budhos received the 2019 Faculty Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Expression Award; Holle received the 2019 Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, and Tardi received the 2019 Faculty Excellence Award for Service. The awards were instituted in 2004 to recognize faculty achievement and contributions as the University celebrates the success of students at their graduation.
Budhos was honored for the “distinction and honor she brings to the University as a literary scholar.” Since coming to William Paterson in 2004, Budhos has distinguished herself as a creative writer publishing five books; her 2010 novel, Tell Us We’re Home, was praised by the New York Times as “intelligent and earnestly passionate.” She has two more books under contract. A writer of young adult novels, stories, and nonfiction, her works celebrate diversity, including Watched, which garnered the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. Honors also include the Walter Dean Myers Award, the EMMA (Exceptional Merit Media Award), the Rona Jaffe Award for Women Writers, and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship, which she won twice, in 2013 and 2017. She was the inaugural winner of the James Cook Teen Book Award in 2007 and is a former Fulbright Scholar in India.
Holle, who was honored for the “distinction and honor he brings to the University as an inspiring teacher,” has been a faculty member in the department of Psychology since 2000.
He won the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Award for Teaching in 2017 along with Best Dedication and Best Support of Student Research awards at several annual psychology research conferences. Holle has mentored and sponsored 62 students in research and conference presentations. An associate professor of psychology in the areas of social and cognitive psychology, he teaches topics such as perception and visual imagery, emotional wellbeing, and the social and psychological implications of race, religion, and gender. Described by one peer evaluator as a teacher who “engages the students well beyond any others I have seen over the years,” he is consistently rated as exceptional by students.
Tardi was honored for the “distinction and honor she brings to the University and the region.”
Since joining the sociology faculty in 1992, she has created a long and distinguished record of service to her department, the University, and the state. She has served as a member and chair of the department’s Curriculum Committee, faculty advisor to Alpha Kappa Delta Honor Society, and as academic advisor. She has worked on the Faculty Senate for 19 years and has served as president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 1796 for 17 years. She chairs the Employee Scholarship Committee and participates regularly on search committees, including recent ones for our University president and provost. Beyond the University, Tardi serves as executive vice president for higher education for AFT of New Jersey, legislative representative of the Council of New Jersey State College Locals, and chair of the Higher Education Leadership Council. Governor Phil Murphy appointed her to his Higher Education Transition Team.
