Each year the University’s most prestigious honor, the President’s Award for Excellence, is bestowed to faculty and staff excelling in the areas of research, teaching, faculty service, and staff service. This year’s winners are Jeffrey Bell, Gerard Blanchard, Cherissa Vitter, and Ron Abel.

Jeffrey Bell
EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH
Professor of Philosophy Jeffrey Bell, a 29-year employee of Southeastern, first won Excellence in Research in 2010. Since then, his research has begun to have a substantial influence on philosophy. In particular, he says, his most important contribution in philosophy has been the work he has written that details the need for overcoming the divisions in the field between analytic and continental philosophy.

Gerard Blanchard
EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING
Beginning at Southeastern in 1998, Gerard Blanchard says his teaching career has been one of continual growth. Once he was exposed to the concepts of active learning and self-correcting materials, he decided to apply those to his courses. Since 2018, he has been providing real-world geophysics experiments to students as co-curricular activities through Project ROOMIE (Remote Observations of Many Interesting Events).

Cherissa Vitter
EXCELLENCE IN FACULTY SERVICE
Cherissa Vitter, an assistant professor of IB education, has been a faculty member since 2015. She is responsible for coordinating the International Education Programme and teaching courses leading to the IB Educator Certificate in Teaching and Learning. Vitter also fosters communication between the University and the IB Organization, completes reviews of online courses, and researches experiential learning online as part of the EL Leadership Team.

Ron Abel
EXCELLENCE IN STAFF SERVICE
Ron Abel has been at Southeastern for 32 years in various capacities, all of which were through grant monies that have come to campus as a result of his grant-writing efforts. He has served thousands of students for the past 25 years through TRIO, established the Tangipahoa Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council, and is also very active in several organizations.