Professor of English Robert McLaughlin, Professor of Physics David Marx, and Professor of History Monica Noraian are the winners of the 2017–2018 College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Outstanding Service Award. The three faculty members will be honored at the Spring Dean’s Address and Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, April 10 at 3:30 p.m. in the Old Main Room in the Bone Student Center.
“These colleagues have devoted thousands of hours of service to Illinois State University,” said Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Gregory Simpson. “Their time and range of talent are deeply appreciated.”
Robert McLaughlin has a long and distinguished record of service to the Department of English in roles that have deeply enriched undergraduate and graduate education. He has served as co-advisor of Sigma Tau Delta for nearly 25 years and as co-advisor to the English Studies Association for 18 years. His service has built these organizations into strong student groups that contribute to the popularity of the English major and the recruitment and retention of students. He has served as the department’s director of undergraduate studies, as associate Chair, and, most recently, as its honors program liaison. As a Sigma Tau Delta advisor, McLaughlin serves as the primary faculty sponsor for the annual Undergraduate English Studies Symposium, a day-long series of meetings and presentations at which both faculty and undergraduate students present their ideas. He also works closely with graduate students on the annual English Studies at Large Conference, another event that promotes the professional presentation of ideas among students. His earlier work as Editor of the Review of Contemporary Fiction and his current work serving as an area chair for the annual Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association conference are in keeping with the outstanding service he devotes to Illinois State University.
David Marx has been a member of the Academic Senate since 2011. During his time in the Senate, his responsibilities have included chairing the Planning and Finance Committee. He has served on numerous additional committees, including the Senate Executive Committee, the Senate Rules Committee, Administrative Affairs Committee, Academic Affairs Committee, and the Senate Ad Hoc Committee. Most recently, he has served on the Engineering Exploratory Committee. His experience also includes an appointment as administrator in residence in the Office of the Provost, where he focused on interdisciplinary activities on campus. At the departmental level, he has chaired both the Departmental Curriculum Committee and the Departmental Recruitment and Retention Committee. He has also served as the department’s webmaster. External to the University, Marx has been involved in several secondary education programs. Of particular note is his service in the Seimens Challenge for high school students, where he served as both a regional and national judge for the physics related projects. He has also organized workshops for high school teachers on solar energy and thermoelectric materials and has worked as a textbook reviewer for several publishers. In non-academic areas, he has served on the Board of Directors of Twin Cities School of Dance for ten years. Marx and his family have fostered over 200 dogs for the Central Illinois Sheltie Rescue since 2010.
Monica Noraian serves as the director of the History/Social Sciences Education Program. A crucial liaison between the College of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences, she administers one of the largest history teacher programs in the nation. She is a member of the Chicago Urban Teacher Education Pipeline and chairs that body’s steering committee; she holds membership on the executive board for the Council for Teacher Education, and she is a board member and faculty liaison for Illinois State’s National Center for Urban Education. She is the faculty liaison for Secondary/K-12 Education programs. During her sabbatical in the fall of 2015, she worked with teachers and administrators at the Regional Alternative School in McLean County to help improve the types of instruction and resources available for those teachers. Noraian’s record of excellent service includes her past presidency of the Children’s Discovery Museum Board and her support of both the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. In 2009 she was selected as the winner of the McLean County Woman of Distinction in Education Award. She is an elected member of the Citizen’s Advisory Board for Illinois State’s laboratory schools, a member of the Children’s Discovery Museum Foundation Board, and President of Leadership Illinois, a statewide professional organization for women.
