By J. Saxon
The University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents is honoring three Bowie State University professors with its highest faculty award for excellence in teaching, creative activity and public service.
Dr. Charles Adams, professor and chair of the Department of Criminal Justice, Dr. Monifa Love, associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences and Dr. Sumanth Reddy, assistant professor of Geography are among the 19 USM faculty members receiving this year’s Regents’ Faculty Award, which recognizes excellence in teaching, mentoring, creative activity, public service and scholarship. The award recipients will be recognized during the Board of Regents meeting on April 14 at Coppin State University.
“It’s a privilege each year to pay tribute to our outstanding faculty,” said USM Chancellor Jay A. Perman. “The impact of their teaching, their discovery, their scholarship and service simply can’t be overstated. That our winners have distinguished themselves among tens of thousands of their faculty colleagues across the System makes this a rare honor and proves just how meaningful are their accomplishments. I’m so grateful for their work.”
Dr. Adams is and founder of the Institute for Restorative Justice and Practices. He was recognized for excellence in public service as a leading voice in the area of criminal justice reform and for his efforts to provide educational opportunities to inmates at the Jessup Correctional Institute through the Second Chance Pell program.
Dr. Monifa Love, a professor in the Department of English, Literature and Cultural Studies, was recognized for excellence in creative activity for literary work, which has been called “daring” in the way she uses literature to present ways of engaging with history, memory and community. Dr. Love’s publishing history includes choral work which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, as well as her novel, Freedom in the Dismal, a story about oppression and liberation, which is being translated into German and French for European publication.
Dr. Reddy, coordinator of the geography minor in the Department of History and Government, was recognized for excellence in teaching. Dr. Reddy has committed to using geography to connect his students with the wider world around them. Dr. Reddy’s use of pictures, videos and experiential learning trips to historical sites, monuments and other significant points of interest, as well as his strong advocacy for study abroad opportunities, demonstrates the commitment to put students at the center of his work.
