Ten Faculty Honored for Excellence

On March 6, President Robin Holmes-Sullivan hosted a celebratory dinner at the Cooley House in honor of the ten recipients of the annual Presidential Faculty Excellence Awards.

“I am profoundly inspired by this year’s honorees,” President Robin Holmes-Sullivan said. “Through their distinguished scholarship and unwavering focus on enriching the academic enterprise at Lewis & Clark, they remind us that excellence is a shared pursuit that elevates our entire community. Their significant contributions to their fields and tireless dedication to teaching does more than enhance students’ intellectual and creative experience; it plays a major role in creating the vibrant community of scholars and artists that is a hallmark of our institution.”

The award was made possible by a generous donation from former Board Chair Stephanie Fowler. Fowler’s donation, along with other philanthropic funds secured by the President, were placed into an endowment whose returns each year will be used for the awards. Each year following the establishment of the award, the President charges the dean of each of Lewis & Clark’s three schools with creating criteria and a process to administer the awards in their respective schools.

College of Arts and Sciences

Dean of the College Bruce Suttmeier and the CAS Faculty Council created these award guidelines with the intent to balance a broad recognition of merit (rewarding as many colleagues as possible).

[Left to right:] President Robin Holmes-Sullivan, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities Kathy Fitzgibbon, Professor of English Karen Gross, Professor of Mathematics Liz Stanhope, Associate Professor of Psychology Diana Leonard, James F. Miller Professor of Humanities Jay Odenbaugh, and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Bruce Suttmeier [Not pictured: Associate Professor of Art, Studio Head of Sculpture, Department Chair Jess Perlitz]

CAS Awardees

Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities Kathy Fitzgibbon

Katherine FitzGibbon conducts two of the three choirs at Lewis & Clark, teaches courses in conducting and music history, and oversees the vibrant voice and choral areas. Her work blends a focus on challenging repertoire performed in historically, politically, and culturally informed ways with a deep sense of connection with performers and audience. Currently, FitzGibbon serves as co-chair of the Arts@LC Initiative and co-chair of the Strategic Imperatives Advisory Council.

Professor of English Karen Gross

Karen Gross studies and teaches the European Middle Ages with an emphasis on England and Italy in the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries. She is particularly interested in the reception of classical texts, Dante, medieval literary theory and education, the history of the book, and the relationship between literature and the visual arts. Her research has been supported by grants from the New York Public Library, the Mellon Foundation, the Huntington Library, the Stanford Humanities Center, and the Fulbright program. This year, Gross co-curated the Watzek Library exhibit titled Shaping the Souls: Books in Medieval Life. The exhibit is the first public display of medieval manuscripts in Portland in nearly 30 years.

Associate Professor of Psychology Diana Leonard

Diana Leonard’s specialties include experimental social psychology research and teaching, data analysis, experimental design, and APA-style writing. Her areas of research focus include intergroup communication, racial passing, and role-play studies. She uses her expertise in intergroup dynamics as faculty fellow for Akin Hall (our multicultural engagement-themed living and learning community) and in workshops she conducts around issues of diversity and inclusion for staff, faculty and students at L&C and in the greater Pacific Northwest.

James F. Miller Professor of Humanities Jay Odenbaugh

Jay Odenbaugh’s research is in the philosophy of science (especially ecology and conservation biology) and environmental philosophy. Most recently, he has been writing on the conflict between the northern spotted owl and the barred owl in the Pacific Northwest. His most recent book, In a Sentimental Mood: Emotions, Evolution, Expression, (Oxford University Press, 2025) is a philosophical exploration of what emotion is, the kinds of emotions there are, and the ways in which they are expressed in our behavior and other social and moral expressions. Most recently, he has been writing on the conflict between the northern spotted owl and the barred owl in the Pacific Northwest, most notably in his widely-read August 8, 2025 New York Times Opinion piece.  

Associate Professor of Art, Studio Head of Sculpture, Department Chair Jess Perlitz

Jess Perlitz is an artist whose work explores participation, communication and performance. She uses object-making to think about the various ways we communicate and translate ownership of space and place. She is particularly interested in various histories of art-making dedicated to political and social use-value that bring to light ideologies and utopian impulses, such as Constructivism and Productivism, the return in art towards the social, and contemporary discussion of monuments and memorials.

Professor of Mathematics Liz Stanhope

Liz Stanhope’s research interests lie in the subfield of differential geometry called spectral geometry. She studies the Laplace and Steklov spectral geometry of Riemannian orbifolds, as well as spectral graph theory. She also does discipline-based undergraduate research in quantitative biology education.

Graduate School of Education and Counseling

Dean of the Graduate School Andy Saultz considers tenure-track and clinical faculty for this award. The recommendation is based on a review of the previous year’s evaluation documents submitted by faculty. Depending on where each faculty member is in the evaluation cycle, this can include the following: annual self-evaluations; peer Promotion and Tenure Committee evaluations; department chair evaluations; developmental reviews; reviews for promotion and/or tenure; and post-tenure reviews. Criteria for the award include both excellence across the range of faculty activity (teaching; scholarship; service; leadership; and other relevant activity) and excellence in one particular area that, by itself, makes an outstanding contribution to the Graduate School and to the Lewis & Clark community.

[Left to right:] Dean of the Graduate School Andy Saultz, Clinical Associate Professor and Program Director of School Counseling Heather Hadraba, Associate Professor Rafe McCullough, and President Robin Holmes-Sullivan

GSEC Awardees

Associate Professor Rafe McCullough

Rafe McCullough’s teaching and scholarship centers on multicultural and social justice counseling and advocacy, addressing and centering aspects of identity in counseling, disability, and affirming counseling practices for queer, trans and nonbinary individuals. McCullough has a book Affirmative Counseling and Psychological Practice with Trans and Nonbinary Clients being published next month. This book extends a long line of scholarship that demonstrates McCullough is a national leader in the areas of affirmative counseling for trans and nonbinary clients. McCullough has been instrumental for the graduate school to build out our Transcendence Program, which trains counselors in serving trans clients. This work saves lives, both in the present and in the future through our graduates’ ability to serve the trans community.

Clinical Associate Professor and Program Director of School Counseling Heather Hadraba

Heather Hadraba is a dedicated teacher, advocate for school counseling, and leader in the state. In many ways, Hadraba exemplifies the values of being a servant leader and an advocate. She currently serves as the program director for the school counseling program, and has worked at Lewis and Clark for over 14 years. Hadraba is deeply connected to state initiatives, training requirements, state level decisions that impact the school counseling profession, and gaps in the existing training for school counselors.

Law School

Law Dean Alicia Ouellette and a small committee selected awardees based on criteria requiring extraordinary contributions in at least two areas—teaching, scholarship, and service. This year’s honorees excelled in all three.

[Left to right:] Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law Sandy Patrick, Jeffrey Bain Faculty Scholar and Professor of Law Melissa Powers, and Henry J. Casey Professor of Law Lydia Loren.

Law School Awardees

Henry J. Casey Professor of Law Lydia Loren

Lydia Loren’s areas of expertise include intellectual property generally and copyright law in particular. Professor Loren’s numerous law review articles address a broad range of copyright issues including whether fair use should be treated as an affirmative defense, ways to curb copyright owner abuse of takedown notices, how incentives should shape the scope of copyright protection, interpretations of Creative Commons contracts, approaches to statutory termination of transfer provisions, the evolution of criminal copyright infringement, and the market failure approach to fair use. Of special note this year, Professor Loren’s multiyear work as a Reporter for Reporter for the American Law Institute’s Restatement of Copyright Law project culminated in adoption of the Restatement of Copyright Law, a historic achievement.

Jeffrey Bain Faculty Scholar and Professor of Law Melissa Powers

Melissa Powers is the founder of the Green Energy Institute, an organization that designs policies to transition to a zero-carbon energy system. Powers teaches climate change law, electricity regulation, renewable energy law, the Clean Air Act, administrative law, and torts. Her research focuses on energy reform, climate change mitigation, and pollution control. Powers serves on the boards of the Northwest Environmental Defense Center and the Environmental Law Collaborative, and she is a member scholar of the Center for Progressive Reform. She is a gifted teacher who is responsible for educating some of the most important and impactful energy professionals in the United States and beyond. This year, she also led the law school’s successful effort to expand status and equity for clinical and lawyering faculty.

“Congratulations to our remarkable awardees,” President Robin Holmes-Sullivan noted. “Excellence at Lewis & Clark is defined by more than just achievement; it is seen in the sustained passion these honorees bring to our mission. Through their unique academic contributions and their commitment to student success, they are actively shaping the future of our institution.”