2022 St. Ignatius Award for Excellence in Teaching Winner

 

Polina Pine is an Advanced Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry who teaches a variety of chemistry classes ranging from General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry to various 300-level Biochemistry classes. In addition to her major academic responsibility, she mentors undergraduate students and performs pedagogical research that she publishes in peer-reviewed journals. One of Dr. Pine’s research projects was recognized by Ignatian Pedagogy Research Grant. Dr. Pine co-authors her papers with her mother and Loyola students. Her parents, educators themselves, had the majority of their teaching career over the Iron Curtain of Soviet Union are her major inspiration and pedagogical advisors. They transferred their passion towards teaching and faith in education to Dr. Pine. Dr. Pine got her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Technion- Israel Institute of Technology where she studied using computational methods highly sensitive Nano-electro Mechanical Devises based on Carbon Nanotubes. This research resulted in multiple publications and awards. She came to United States for her post-doctorate research at Northwestern University in 2012 to investigate the mobility of viruses and nanoparticles in hydrogels and mucus. Dr. Pine’s teaching career started at Northwestern University at School of Continuing Studies where she taught Biochemistry. Dr. Pine holds Teaching Certificates from Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching, Northwestern University and Ignatian Pedagogy Certificate from Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Pine has 12-year-old son and 16 –year old daughter who are amazing students, musicians, athletes, and compassionate human beings. Dr. Pine has never experienced US school system as a student, for this reason she considers herself fortunate to raise her kids using her students at Loyola as role models for her children. 

"Dr. Pine’s course did more than enrich me with knowledge in the field of biochemistry, it carried me in my studies for the MCAT and continues to have relevance in day-to-day experiences I have. She changed my outlook and opened my eyes to the applicability of what I'm learning to medicine, more efficient study strategies, and a more enthusiastic approach to learning and engaging in class. Besides giving us the platform to succeed under the difficult circumstances brought on by quarantine, Dr. Pine served as an inspiration to me in who she is as a person. From the way she vocalized challenges she faced in the past, to the way she empathized with each student, to the way she encouraged us when material became difficult, she represents the type of person I want to be as an aspiring physician, a person that represents hope and a person with tireless ambition towards helping people."

 

2022 Alice B. Hayes Award for Advising and Mentoring Winners

Kate Phillippo is a Professor in the Schools of Social Work and Education. She has been part of the Loyola community since 2009. Dr. Phillippo’s work centers on stakeholder enactment of education policy and contextual influences upon the enactment process, focusing on student wellness policy and urban education policy. She is the author of A Contest With No Winners: How Students Experience Competitive School Choice.

"Kate is always available and goes out of her way to provide mentorship. She is solicitous of all of her mentees, and she always gives honest and constructive feedback. Additionally, Kate does a wonderful job helping students realize their potential and identify skills they have that can help them in their academic and professional pursuits."

Robert Gutierrez is an associate clinical professor at Arrupe College. He earned his BS degree in psychology from Loyola University before pursuing a MA and PhD in community psychology from DePaul University. His dissertation research centered on the role of racial ideology on perceptions of racial discrimination. While completing his PhD he worked as a program evaluator for Chicago Public Schools, taught classes at several Chicago area universities, and directed the Community Based Learning program at Saint Xavier University. Since joining Arrupe College in 2017, Dr. Gutierrez has been the sole full-time psychologist on the faculty. He is currently advising his third cohort of advisees and working to support these students in their academic and social growth during their time at Arrupe. Dr. Gutierrez also works closely with social and behavioral science students to prepare for their transition after Arrupe. For the past two years he has been chair of the first-year seminar committee, working to support students in their adjustment to college. Dr. Gutierrez is also the program chair of the orientation committee working to support faculty advising sessions during student orientation. Dr. Gutierrez is looking forward to forming a participatory action research lab in the coming academic year to help facilitate Arrupe students becoming active in research on college accessibility and achievability.

"Dr. Gutierrez’s success as an advisor and mentor is due to his consistently caring and engaging interactions with students, his high expectations for students, and the safe and supportive environment he creates for both advisees and students."

 

Provost's Award for Teaching Freshman Winner

Shannon Gore is a Clinical Associate Professor of Communications in Loyola’s Arrupe College. She is from Philadelphia and earned her PhD in Communications from Northwestern University where she studied documentaries created during the civil rights movement and representations of African Americans in nonfiction film. She was drawn to teach at Arrupe College for its holistic mission. She was eager to work at a school that pays attention to student concerns inside and outside of the classroom. She is committed to teaching and advising first generation college students. 

"Dr. Gore’s consistently high course evaluations attest to her ability to challenge and engage students in her 100- and 200-level Communication courses. Dr. Gore utilizes a variety of high impact instructional techniques  to encourage students of various learning styles and abilities to connect to the discipline of communication, understand its relevance in their lives, and improve their public speaking and digital literacy skills. Students find Dr. Gore to be a supportive and engaging professor who creates a learning environment in which students are motivated to improve."

 

Magis Teaching Award for Part-Times Instructor-Practitioners

Sarah Dallof has reported in high-pressure environments, delivering critical information to audiences of up to 10 million for more than 15 years. Her live and pre-recorded segments have appeared on NBC’s Nightly News and The TODAY Show as well as MSNBC, CNBC, The Weather Channel, Telemundo, Al Jazeera and multiple international networks. Her resume is comprised of an extensive mix of breaking and major news events including public health emergencies, presidential election cycles, severe weather and mass casualty events. Her work has taken her across the U.S., Canada and Asia, earning multiple honors and awards. 

"Instructor Dallof is a role model to many students because of her passion for the journalism industry and her kind and thoughtful nature. If students have questions about the industry, she can answer them openly and honestly. Her class always made students feel comfortable sharing their thoughts because she cultivated a judgment-free zone. Students could say their opinions and be comfortable with being challenged. Instructor Dallof always was willing to help students excel by providing superb feedback both inside and outside of the classroom."

 

Peter Hans Kolvenbach Award for Engaged Teaching Winner

Michael Schuck, Ph.D., is a Professor of Roman Catholic Social Thought in the Department of Theology and a Professor of Environmental Justice in the School of Environmental Sustainability at Loyola University Chicago. He holds a PhD. in Ethics and Society from the University of Chicago where he also received Master’s Degrees in Religious Studies and Political Science. He is the Founding Director of the Joan and Bill Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage at Loyola University and currently assists the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Human Development with global university engagement in the Laudato Sí Action Platform. His research focuses on Roman Catholic social thought, theological and philosophical ethics, environmental justice theory and movements, and Indigenous studies. His published works include That They be One: Social Teaching of the Papal Encyclicals, 1740-1989 (Georgetown University Press, 1998), Democracy, Culture and Catholicism , with John Crowley Buck (Fordham University Press, 2015), and the online textbook in integral ecology, Healing Earth (https://healingearth.ijep.net).