2024 AAD Awards

Nate King
Assistant Professor, Creative Technologies
School of Visual Arts

Nate’s nominators had this to say:

• His impact as an educator is clear from glowing student evaluations and letters, and from faculty peers who know they can rely on Nate.
• He facilitates numerous transformative experiences for SOVA students each year, from pop-up exhibitions to screening nights, contributions to study abroad, and exhibition of BFA/MFA collaboration projects at the New Orleans Film Festival, seen by 35,000+ visitors this year. We are touched by Nate's humility, dedication, and disarming kindness.
• The result of his influence on my work has been the unabashed assuredness of my narrative… I would not be the professional, artist, or person without the influence of Nate King.

Annie Ronan
Assistant Professor, Art History
School of Visual Arts

Annie’s nominators had this to say:

• The learning environment of her classes strike an admirable balance between being inclusive, rigorous, and conversant with DEI principles in a manner that reinforces canonical artworks while challenging conventional narratives and approaches.
• Dr. Ronan's sterling achievements in teaching and pedagogy are amply demonstrated through her compilation of annual SPOT scores over the past four years, as well as her continual engagement with curriculum initiatives at VT.
• Her classes in European and American art of the modern and contemporary periods integrate cutting- edge scholarship, routinely based on her own research, with experiential learning approaches that perennially draw robust enrollments from students consisting of majors and non-majors alike.

Derek Shapiro
Assistant Professor, Music
School of Performing Arts

Derek’s nominators had this to say:

• Dr. Shapiro frames conducting in terms of principles of movement, where students don't learn choreographed patterns or cues, but instead explore how to make music with a group using gesture to evoke musical responses. 
• He instills high expectations throughout his rehearsals and students eagerly respond. The wind ensemble performs repertoire that is forward-looking, diverse, and deeply musical.
• His pedagogical approach blends high levels of artistry with a clear understanding of the everyday challenges students and musicians face. Faculty observations have been uniformly positive and student evaluations consistently exceed college and department averages.

Elizabeth Lantz
Senior Instructor, Music
School of Performing Arts

Elizabeth’s nominators had this to say:

• Betsy is passionate about creating the best opportunities for the students she personally teaches and the children of the New River Valley. 
• Professor Lantz endeavors to bring the campus to the community and, in turn, to help the community feel connected to what is going on in and around the campus. Diversity in programming, learning, discovery, and engagement are central to the series. The artists Professor Lantz chooses represent a wide array of backgrounds, encompassing diversity of age, gender, color, disability, race, and sexual orientation.
• The music visits and field trips arranged by Betsy are often the only live classical music experience some of our students will ever experience.

Eiman Elgewely
Assistant Professor, Interior Design
School of Design

Eiman's nominators had this to say:

• She has integrated AI research into her teaching, specifically introducing AI to our design studio and co-organizing an AI workshop. She is currently studying AI best practices to assess AI's impact on design education.
• She is a committee member of the Big Ideas Workshop at the Center of Human-Computer Interaction, where she engages in fostering innovative research initiatives.
• She has presented five peer-reviewed conference papers at prestigious international conferences, spanning locations from Vancouver, Canada, to Naples, Italy, and Vienna, Austria.

John Irrera
Assistant Professor, Music
School of Performing Arts

John’s nominators had this to say:

• As a teacher, John’s impressive listing of master classes and competition adjudications speaks to his growing reputation as a consummate pedagogue. John made a striking, immediate, positive impact on our program from the moment he got here.
• His approach to pedagogy is to present material in small pieces so each student can fully absorb the material before continuing. This method has proved to be very effective in his teaching studio and John has been a very successful recruiter and clearly transformed the reputation of our upper string program.
• He is one of the most active performers in the School of Performing Arts and has enhanced our music program through his reputation.

Charles Nichols
Assistant Profesor, Music
School of Performing Arts

Charles' nominators had this to say:

• Dr. Nichols has established himself as a leader in composition, performance, and computer music systems.
• He is a scholar and artist whose work combines the craft and technique of classical music with the intensity and style of popular genres.
• Nichols has crafted an international reputation as a composer and creator of music that includes structures improvisation, string quartets, music for electro-acoustic performance, and even telematic performance.
• He is a creative, collaborative, and innovative colleague that contributes greatly to the arts on our campus and to the broader electronic music and composition community. 

Rachel Lin Weaver
Associate Professor, Creative Technologies
School of Visual Arts

Rachel’s nominators had this to say:

• I was immediately impressed with the profound impact of Rachel’s creative work and research and have had several opportunities since our first meeting to experience her commitment to a multi-layered practice of research-based art and media.
• Rachel’s dedication to democratizing access to technology and creativity is exemplary and inspiring. She is committed to facilitating accessible community efforts for free, public-facing workshops in art, technology, and experimental media.
• She brings a holistic approach to her research and life alike, and reflects her commitment to community wellbeing, belief in the transformative power of creativity, and the vision and drive to realize outstanding impacts.

Jessica Hernandez
Visiting Assistant Professor of Practice, Architecture
School of Architecture

Jessica's nominators had this to say:

• Jessica has been very pro-active and successful in raising the awareness of gender inequality in the profession and supporting young women on their way into the profession by organizing and advising the new Student Club, Women in Architecture.
• The club is promoting young women to organize and build a supportive network, while providing a space for conversation about the profession and how to become a professional architect.
• The Women in Architecture and IAWA Club have begun to network and find ways to collaborate. They are in communication and are supporting each other’s initiatives. 

Kathryn Clarke Albright

Professor, Architecture
School of Architecture

Kathryn's nominators had this to say:

• Kathryn has served in a challenging role through many changes of leadership, staying positive and working towards new and ever-changing solutions. She is always willing to hear a new perspective and works to solve problems with energy.
• She cares about the struggles of students and works with them and the university to find solutions. Kathryn is fair and level-headed as well as assertive and strong. This work is not glamorous or outward facing; when done well, it is true service leadership.
• Despite bridging some tumultuous years of intense change that culminated in the creation of the new college of AAD, Kathryn’s reliable administrative leadership kept the college on an even keel, continuing to be successful and effective for faculty, students, and staff alike.

Paul Emmons
Patrick and Nancy Lathrop Professor, Architecture
School of Architecture

Paul’s nominators had this to say:

• Dr. Paul Emmons has over two decades of commitment to research, teaching, and service. He has built an international reputation in the history and theory of architecture.
• Emmons’ scholarship, teaching, and service not only imagine but also build a future alongside his peers and students.
• A committee member described Emmons’ leadership as “perfect for this workgroup in collecting each school's needs, opinions and histories without judgement, but with genuine empathy and sensitivity.”
• In 2021, Dr. Emmons was awarded The Patrick and Nancy Lathrop Professorship, established by the Lathrops to recognize an architecture professor who demonstrates excellence in the field.

Donna Dunay
G. Truman Ward Endowed Professor, Architecture
School of Architecture

Donna’s nominators had this to say:

• Over a 48-year period Prof. Dunay has been directly involved with developing the School of Architecture and College, in its many forms, into a nationally recognized program and destination for talent since the earliest days and her substantial contributions have continued apace, even through her retirement earlier this year.
• Through these efforts, she has demonstrated commitment and leadership, advancing the school and profession toward a more equitable and just acknowledgment of the true scope of women's involvement in the history of architecture, in fact correcting that record through her leadership of the International Archive of Women in Architecture.
• She has challenged generations of students and educators to be better, to ask better questions, and to articulate their ideas in careful formulations.

Victoria Boatwright
Digital Communications Manager, Advancement
College of Architecture, Arts, and Design

Victoria’s nominators had this to say:

• Victoria created a new presence with daily content and increased followers and engagement with the VT, AAD, and alumni communities.
• Victoria has proven herself to be a collaborative leader for and shepherd of our digital presence. In addition to the website, she manages all college-level social media and works with school partners to maintain brand continuity and provide support for our school-level social media presence
• She makes everyone feel heard, seen, and valued members of one AAD team. She achieved a cohesive VT brand and brand awareness for the college.
• She approaches her work in a conscientious, service-minded, forthright, and collaborative manner. She is seen as a supportive resource when faculty or staff need her assistance. 

Dee Hopkins
Academic Advisor
School of Performing Arts

Dee's nominators had this to say:

• Dee is a central presence that guides students and parents in a comfortable and approachable manner. Dee’s enthusiasm is infectious, and it is tangible and attractive with our students.
• Dee is a tremendous asset to our program. There are few staff members that have such a remarkable influence on the quality of students’ experiences, fosters connection among staff and faculty, and supports so many of the initiatives that are critical to our program’s success.
• Dee helps advocate for students who are struggling in classes by encouraging them to visit with faculty, and even in some cases accompany them to the faculty office to assuage any concerns they had about the meeting. Dee goes above and beyond every day and is deserving of further recognition. 

Susan Rosebrough
Academic Advisor
School of Visual Arts

Susan's nominators had this to say:

• Susan has made significant contributions to solving curricular issues within the School of Visual Arts. She was the first to notice an issue with not enough professional electives being offered to meet the demand of students and how this was affecting our retention rates by not allowing students to graduate on time.
• She has raised the profile of advising not just for the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design, but for Virginia Tech as a whole. Susan’s advisees in SOVA report some of the highest advising satisfaction in all of Virginia Tech in our annual student survey.
• Susan’s passion for advising is contagious, and in our routine academic advising meetings Susan’s ideas and perspectives for enhancing the student experience are frequently adopted by other advisors across campus.