From left, Kenneth Lopez, Eugene Bickers, Roger Christiansen, Suzanne Savary, David Andrus, Elana Gordis, Stephen Bucher, Christopher Aykanian and Stanley Rosen, were among this year’s winners. (Bickers photo by Irene Fertik)

Photo/Gia Scafidi

The awards, including one “with distinction,” which went to physics professor Eugene Bickers, were presented at a luncheon April 30.

“Education works best when it’s a total immersion experience where people can talk and learn about interesting things outside of the classroom,” said Lloyd Armstrong, USC’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

“Today’s a great day to recognize a group of people who’ve made a commitment to make sure that happens.”

“These are outstanding teachers who inspire and transform their undergraduate students by taking education into the larger campus and community,” added Mark Kann, the luncheon’s emcee and director of USC’s Academic Culture Initiative, which sponsors the award.

“The list is not inclusive, but merely suggestive of faculty members who energize the academic culture at USC,” Kann said.

This year’s winners, who each receive a $100 certificate to the USC Bookstore are: David Andrus, a lecturer in USC’s School of International Relations; Christopher Aykanian, a lecturer in the School of Architecture; Stephen Bucher, director of USC’s Engineering Writing Program; Roger Christiansen, a senior lecturer in the School of Cinema-Television; James Ellis, director of the Family Business Program in USC’s Marshall School of Business; Elana Gordis, research assistant professor of psychology in the College of Letters, Arts & Sciences; Kenneth Lopez, associate director of the Music Industry program in USC’s Thornton School of Music; Stanley Rosen, professor of political science in USC College; Suzanne Savary, associate professor of management communications in the Marshall School; and Kendall Simmonds, associate professor in USC’s Leventhal School of Accounting.

As the top honoree, Bickers, who also is known as “Professor Firewalker” for walking across hot coals to demonstrate heat transfer to his students, received a $1,000 gift certificate to the USC Bookstore. He also becomes the Teaching Has No Boundaries “poster boy” for 2003, said Kann.

“I know I speak for all of us when I say what a pleasure it is to receive an award for doing what we love to do,” Bickers said. “We all look forward to deepening the sense of academic community here at USC.”

In addition to undergraduate students, who watch in amazement as Bickers lies across a bed of nails in his classroom to demonstrate properties of gravitational force, peers also recognize the quality of his research.

Bickers has developed a set of novel computational techniques to investigate high-temperature superconductors et with Larry Smarr, computer science and engineering professor at the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering, who leads the initiative.

Stanley P. Azen, professor of preventive medicine and co-director of the division of biostatistics at the Keck School, also will head east to Baltimore to visit with leaders at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, which has one of the nation’s most vigorous clinical research programs. Azen is one of the Keck School faculty members who have stepped forward to advance the Keck School’s clinical research movement, Ryan noted.

Finally, Azen also will travel to Italy to speak with bioinformatics experts at that country’s National Institute for Cancer Research, which is known for its excellence in developing networks and software for managing biomedical research.

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