Monty Honorees

The San Diego State University Alumni Association recently announced its Awards for Outstanding Faculty Contributions to the university, more commonly known as the Faculty Montys.

Each year, the group honors an outstanding faculty member from each of the university's colleges and the Library.  

About this year’s honorees

Rebecca Moore, Ph.D., professor of religious studies in the College of Arts and Letters, received the Senate Distinguished Professor, Excellence in Teaching Award in 2010. Her research focuses on the theme of "marginalized discourses." She co-edited and wrote a chapter for Peoples Temple and Black Religion in America, the first scholarly text devoted to exploring relationships between Peoples Temple and Black churches and communities.  She is currently the chair of Religious Studies as well as a member of the Faculty Affairs Committee which she chaired from 2007-2010.

James Beatty, Ph.D., is professor of information and decision systems in the College of Business Administration. He is an excellent, award winning teacher, accomplished researcher, and among the highest contributors in terms of service with extensive work on committees and taskforces.  What sets him truly apart is his work with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the top performance honor that an American organization can receive.  He has served on that board for 11 of the past 13 years.

Laura J. Hall, Ph.D., professor of special education in the College of Education has made contributions as International Program Coordinator for the College of Education, Coordinator of the Moderate to Severe and Early Childhood Education Specialist Credential Programs .  She is an active researcher and author of peer reviewed books and journal articles in the area of autism spectrum disorders (ASD).  Especially noteworthy is her role in the development, implementation, and institutionalization of the masters degree specialization in Autism.   

Kee Moon, Ph.D, professor of mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering is the recipient of many research and teaching awards including the 2009 Northrop Grumman Excellence in Teaching Award. His research at SDSU has led to several patents and he authored more than 110 published technical papers. His efforts have led to an agreement between the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Kyung Hee University in S. Korea and the San Diego State University Research Foundation to promote academic cooperation.

Karen Emmorey, Ph.D. is a professor in the School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences (SLHS) and director of the Laboratory for Language & Cognitive Neuroscience (LLCN).  Prior to coming to SDSU she was a senior researcher at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.  She is one of the top linguistic researchers in the world, concerned specifically with American Sign Language (ASL) acquisition and the neural underpinnings of visual language systems.  

Kathy LaMaster, Ph.D., professor and associate dean in the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts.  She has truly excelled in teaching, scholarship and service.  She has a remarkable record of teaching and numerous publications. Her expertise in technology use in physical education has resulted in international invitations for her to conduct teacher workshops in Abu Dhabi and Ireland. In her current position as associate dean of the College, she has continued to rely on her teaching and research skills to be an effective administrator.

Forest Rohwer, Ph.D., professor of biology in the College of Sciences, a record of research accomplishment along with service and teaching to San Diego State University and to the greater scientific community is exemplary. He has been honored with major scholarly awards from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Canadian Society for Advanced Research, and the International Society for Microbial Ecology. He is skilled as a mentor for students at all levels, from undergraduate  students to MS students to PhD students  to postdoctoral fellows.

Linda Salem is the librarian for the College of Education. She collaborates with faculty and administrators to integrate information literacy with classroom instruction; and provides in-depth one-on-one reference help with Master’s and Ph.D. students’ research projects. She was recently appointed head of the reference services division. As chair of the Library Faculty Council in 2010, she has done an excellent job of leading the faculty and collaborating with library administration. She is also the chair of the Children’s Literature Society of the American Library Association.