The University of Mary Washington presented its top honors during commencement Saturday, May 10.
Justin C. Simeone of Tolland, Mass., received the Colgate W. Darden, Jr. Award, which is presented annually to the student with the highest grade-point average (GPA) in the four-year undergraduate program. He finished with a 3.99 GPA.
Margaret Huber, distinguished professor of anthropology, was presented the Grellet C. Simpson Award, which is given each year as the institution’s most prestigious award for excellence in undergraduate teaching. The recipient is usually a senior member of the faculty.
Keith Mellinger, assistant professor of mathematics, received the UMW Alumni Association Outstanding Young Faculty Member Award, which is presented annually to an exceptional member of the faculty who has served the institution for at least two years, but no more than five years.
W. Brown Morton III, professor emeritus of historic preservation, was awarded the Mary W. Pinschmidt Award. The recipient of the award is selected by the graduating class as the faculty member “whom they will most likely remember as the one who had the greatest impact on their lives.”
Brenda E. Vogel, professor of education and director of education programs, received the College of Graduate and Professional Studies Outstanding Faculty Member Award, which is presented annually to recognize an exceptional full-time faculty member who demonstrates excellence in teaching and professional leadership, and who has taught at the Stafford campus for at least two years.
Acting President Richard V. Hurley and Board of Visitors Rector J. William Poole each were presented with a Washington Medallion, which recognizes extraordinary service to the university that has made a lasting and indelible impact. They also were named honorary alumni at a ceremony the previous evening.
Justin C. Simeone
A history and political science double major and summa cum laude graduate, Simeone received the UMW Alumni Award at the university’s Senior Convocation on Friday, May 9. He was recognized for demonstrating an outstanding combination of academic excellence, leadership and service to the university. In addition, he received the Phi Alpha Theta Award for Highest GPA in History, the Ann Elizabeth Fitschen Memorial Political Science Award and Departmental Honors in History and Political Science.
This spring, Simeone was selected to receive a U.S. Student Fulbright grant for 2008-2009. He will study at the London School of Economics’ Master of Science Program in Politics and Government in the European Union.
He is club president and national board chairperson of Students Helping Honduras, a UMW student-organized relief organization. Simeone has been named to the Dean’s List and President’s List (all A’s) and is a member of several scholastic honor societies, including Phi Alpha Theta for history, Pi Gamma Mu for social sciences, Pi Sigma Alpha for political science and Phi Beta Kappa for outstanding academic achievement. In addition to being a Washington Guide and a history department representative, he has been the recipient of numerous scholarships.
Margaret Huber
A member of the Mary Washington faculty since 1974, Dr. Huber holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Bryn Mawr College, and a bachelor in letters and doctorate of philosophy in social anthropology from Oxford University. She has received numerous faculty development grants from UMW, and she was instrumental in launching the institution’s anthropology major.
A member of the Southern Anthropological Society and the American Society for Ethnohistory, she has conducted research on American popular culture, the Powhatan Indians of Virginia and the peoples of Papua New Guinea. Her research has focused on symbolic anthropology, political anthropology, economic anthropology, gender, Southeastern Indians and Melanesia. In addition, she has written numerous articles on gender, political organizations and symbolic systems. Her publications, under the name Margaret Holmes Williamson, include the book “Powhatan Lords of Life and Death: Command and Consent in 17th-Century Virginia.”
Keith Mellinger
Dr. Mellinger received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Millersville University in Pennsylvania and master’s and doctoral degrees in mathematics from the University of Delaware. The recipient of many internal grants and a Jepson Fellowship from the University of Mary Washington, he is a Project NExT fellow through the Mathematical Association of America. He was awarded a young investigator grant from the National Security Agency for his research in finite geometry and coding theory in 2006.
Dr. Mellinger has delivered professional presentations throughout the country and in Greece, Italy and Canada, and he has been published in numerous mathematics journals and magazines, including the Journal of Geometry, the Journal of Mathematics and Computer Education and Mathematics Magazine. Dr. Mellinger has served as referee for several research journals and is a brief/script reviewer and mathematical content consultant for “CyperChase,” an educational television show for children ages 8 through 11. He is a member of the American Mathematical Society, the Mathematical Association of America and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
Before coming to UMW in 2003,he held a Vertical Integration of Research and Education post-doctoral position at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He previously worked as a product report coordinator in the Quality Assurance Department at Warner-Lambert Corporation in Lititz, Pa., where he wrote product reviews for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and as data manager at the Center for Biostatistics and Epidemiology at Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania.
W. Brown Morton III
Morton has amassed a record of professional responsibilities, publications, lectures, honors, grants and awards. Before coming to Mary Washington in 1985, he worked for the U.S. Department of the Interior for 12 years, during which time he was principal architect of the Historic American Buildings Survey and Chief, Technical Preservation Services Division of the National Park Service. He is the co-author of The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Preservation Projects, including the Standards for Rehabilitation used by the Fredericksburg Architectural Review Board. He also oversaw the UNESCO efforts to save Hue, Vietnam, which was damaged during the Vietnam War, and he served on the Consultative Committee for the Safeguarding of Borobudur, Indonesia, home of the largest Buddhist monument in the world. An expert in historic architecture, architectural conservation and international preservation, Morton has undertaken preservation work in Jordan, Egypt, Italy, Vietnam, Nepal, Indonesia and throughout the United States, including in his hometown of Waterford, Va. His articles have been published in National Geographic magazine.
In 1995, Morton was named the Prince B. Woodard Chair of Historic Preservation by the Mary Washington Board of Visitors. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, and he completed his graduate work in architectural conservation with the Ministère des Affairs Culturelles. He is an ordained Episcopal priest and will retire this month from the university. He was awarded “emeritus status” during the commencement ceremony.
Brenda E. Vogel
A member of the university faculty since 1977, Dr. Vogel holds a bachelor of fine arts from Virginia Commonwealth University, as well as a master of arts in education and a doctorate in education from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
She served as chair, coordinator of teacher education services and director of field experiences for the university’s Department of Education prior to her 1999 appointment as director of education programs for the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. Dr. Vogel has played a central leadership role in the development of the large array of graduate education programs at the Stafford campus. Under her guidance, the offerings have grown to include seven core programs for Master of Education students and five major courses of study in the teacher licensure program. In addition, she has been instrumental in the creation of six education certificates, as well as courses for teacher license renewal and for National Board Certification support.
As director of field experiences, she places student teachers, interns and practicum students in local schools. As coordinator of education and outreach services, Dr. Vogel maintains contacts with numerous local school and state education officials while overseeing curriculum revisions to meet changing regulations. She also has served on various university-wide groups, including the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, the Alumni Board, and the Centennial and Inauguration committees. Prior to joining Mary Washington, Dr. Vogel was a faculty member at Clinch Valley College, the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech and Virginia Union University.
Richard V. Hurley
Hurley has amassed more than 32 years experience in higher education, including eight at Mary Washington. During the past year he has balanced multiple roles as Acting President and Vice President for Administration, Finance, and Legislative Affairs.
Under his tenure as acting president, Hurley led the university in celebrating its Centennial anniversary, guided the university during a critical transition period, worked to increase diversity among students and faculty and adopted bias-related incident policy to address discrimination. He also worked to improve relations between the university and the community and oversaw the UMW Real Estate Foundation’s acquisition of key properties, including the Park and Shop Shopping Center for future mixed-used development.
“Throughout his term as acting president, he has not only maintained a steady course for the university, but has used his considerable vision and leadership to expand the institution’s physical facilities and future programmatic opportunities,” according to the resolution issued by the Board of Visitors.
Before coming UMW, Hurley served for 15 years as vice president for administration and finance at Longwood University. Previously, he was director of administration at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C., and the Community College of Vermont, assistant to the chancellor at Vermont State Colleges and assistant director of financial aid at The Richard Stockton State College in Pomona, N.J.
Hurley holds diplomas and certificates from Richard Stockton State College, Central Michigan State College, Harvard University and University of Kentucky.
J. William Poole
Appointed to the UMW Board of Visitors by former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner in 2002, Poole has served as vice rector and rector. Recently, he has directed the board during a key transition period between presidents and in the university’s presidential search. In this role, he served as the chair of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, as well as the spokesperson for the search.
“He has earned the trust, respect, and admiration of the university and wider Fredericksburg communities for his candor and integrity, calm and steady demeanor, and his ability to communicate with and to build consensus among diverse constituencies,” stated the resolution issued by the Board of Visitors.
Poole retired in 2001 as general manager of WFLS-FM and WYSK AM-FM after a 40-year career that included serving as a member of the board of directors of The Free Lance-Star Publishing Co. He is former chairman of the Mary Washington Hospital Foundation and the hospital’s board of directors. He also is a former vice chair for radio with the National Association for Broadcasters Board of Directors, former chair of the National Broadcast Education Association and past president of the Virginia Association of Broadcasters and the Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters. Poole was elected to the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame and is a recipient of the C.T. Lucy Distinguished Service award for service to Virginia Broadcasting as well as the Robert Gallimore Distinguished Service Award from the Associated Press. He was honored by the Virginia Senate and House with a resolution in 2001.