Three professors were awarded emeritus status at the University of Mary Washington’s commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 9.
Bulent I. Atalay will be named Professor Emeritus of Physics, Vera Niebuhr will be named Associate Professor Emeritus of German and Roy B. Weinstock will be named Professor Emeritus of Psychology.
The title of emeritus is bestowed on faculty members who have served the university for at least 15 years and who have attained the rank of professor or associate professor.
Bulent I. Atalay
Bulent I. Atalay started his career at Mary Washington in 1966, when he was completing a doctoral dissertation on theoretical nuclear physics at Georgetown University, where he also earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees. For more than four decades, his passion for art and archaeology has been incorporated into his class lectures. A gifted speaker and scholar, Dr. Atalay has won international recognition for his professional presentations and lectures, and his published books, articles and reviews. His recent books include “Leonardo’s Universe: the Renaissance World of Leonardo da Vinci” and “Math and the Mona Lisa: the Art and Science of Leonardo da Vinci.”
An accomplished artist, Dr. Atalay also has produced two books of lithographs, “Lands of Washington: Impressions in Ink” and “Oxford and the English Countryside.” Some of his works are part of collections in The White House, Buckingham Palace, and the Smithsonian Institution.
At UMW, Dr. Atalay was the recipient of the Simpson Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 1998 and the 2004 Student Council Excellence in Teaching award for the physics department. He is a member of several professional organizations, including the Association of Members of the Institute for Advanced Study, American Physical Society and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy.
Vera Niebuhr
Vera Niebuhr joined the Mary Washington faculty in 1977 and has introduced students to and developed their interest in German literature from the Enlightenment through Romanticism and Post-Romanticism periods. Her courses reveal Dr. Niebuhr’s versatility and breadth of knowledge as well as her dedication to student mentoring.
In 2006, the American Association of Teachers of German awarded her a Certificate of Merit recognizing her as a rare combination of “scholarly excellence and pedagogical skills with technological innovation and traditional approaches.” Dr. Niebuhr has been active in the American Association of Teachers of German, and she has held memberships in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, the Foreign Language Association of Virginia and Phi Sigma Iota (International Foreign Language Honor Society.
Dr. Niebuhr received a bachelor’s degree in German and education from Douglass College, and subsequently earned a master’s and doctoral degrees in German from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Roy B. Weinstock
Roy B. Weinstock came to Mary Washington in 1968 as a member of the Department of Psychology. A year later, he became chair of that department and served in that capacity until 1978. He continued as a full-time member of the teaching faculty until 1980, then moved into the university’s administration, holding positions of associate dean for academic services, associate vice president for academic affairs and finally in 1993 to vice president for planning, assessment, and institutional research. He served as the institution’s liaison to the university’s accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, executive director of Mary Washington’s 1983 self-study and has directed numerous projects mandated by Virginia’s higher education coordinating authority, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.
For 11 years, Dr. Weinstock was a member of the Public Transit Advisory Board for the City of Fredericksburg, for which he was recognized for extraordinary service by the Fredericksburg City Council. During his tenure, the city’s public transportation system grew from five buses and four routes to 31 buses and 24 routes.
Dr. Weinstock earned a bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College, a master’s degree from Hollins College and a doctorate from Syracuse University.