Notable

An assistant professor in SIUC's dental technology program received national recognition from her professional peers last weekend.

Leigh A. Tiebout

In recognition of her career accomplishments, Leigh A. Tiebout received the 2007 Educator of the Year award from the National Association of Dental Laboratories. She received the award Sunday, Jan. 28 — the first day of the three-day national conference in Las Vegas.

Associate professor and Dental Technology Program Director John R. Winings nominated Tiebout for the award. In addition, two program graduates also sent recommendation letters. She was also "strongly recommended" by dental technology faculty and colleagues, Winings said.

Tiebout began her career at SIUC in 1983 as a lecturer. She became an assistant professor in 1987.

The dental technology program is in the School of Allied Health, which is part of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts.

Charla J. Lautar, associate professor and director of the School of Allied Health, notes that in addition to her teaching assignment, Tiebout contributes to dental technology education at SIUC in two important areas.

The first is development of a pending patent during a recent sabbatical to aid dental technologists in their laboratory work. The second is the service that Tiebout provides, with other faculty members and students, for patients through the Community Dental Center and for children through Project Mouth Guard, Lautar said.

"It's an honor to be nominated and to have the support of past graduates," said Tiebout, who lives in Carbondale.

"When you go to meetings they are now representing companies and are the ones to go to with questions about new techniques and materials," she added. "They are the ones who mentor our graduates as they grow in the profession."

The National Science Foundation will provide $176,222 to support an archaeology project at SIUC.

Andrew K. Balkansky, assistant professor in anthropology, is the director of "The Archaeological Precursors of the Mixtec Civilization" project. The Mixtec are an indigenous Mesoamerican people inhabiting the Mexican state of Oaxaca.

Balkansky and his team, which includes scholars from Mexico, Canada and Japan, will study the origins of the Mixtec civilization, social inequality, change in early village societies and the transition to urbanism.

The researcher has been excavating the 3,000-year-old Tiyata site since 2003 and studying that region of Mexico since 1997. "I felt relieved when I heard the funding came through," said Balkansky. "We want to get a better understanding of the beginnings of complex societies."

The H. John Heinz III Fund and the National Geographic Society are also funding the project.

Allison E. Joseph, associate professor of English, is the recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Artists Fellowship in Poetry.

Allison E. Joseph

The council awarded $7,000 to the scholar in recognition of her outstanding work and commitment within the arts. The Artists Fellowship Program offers funding for 12 artistic disciplines on a two-year rotating cycle. Judges selected this year's 75 fellowship and finalist award recipients from 826 creative artists working in the disciplines of interdisciplinary/computer art, music composition, photography, poetry and visual arts.

Joseph was "stunned" when she heard she made the cut. "I've had an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in Poetry before, but that was about 10 years ago. As a writer, I apply for a lot of things, knowing that usually the award will go to someone else." she said.

As head of SIUC's master's program in creative writing, Joseph is busy teaching students to use words to express themselves but she's never too busy to compose her own art.

"Right now, I'm working on my sixth collection of poetry. I have a sabbatical coming up in 2008, so I hope to pull the collection into final form then," Joseph said.

Award-winning painter Najjar Abdul-Musawwir, assistant professor in the School of Art and Design, is a featured speaker at the Middle Eastern Arts Festival set for Feb. 1-10 at Indiana University.

Abdul-Musawwir is an artist internationally known for his paintings with Islamic themes. He will conduct a demonstration of his unique painting style and exhibit four of his paintings during the annual conference, which draws scholars and enthusiasts from across the country. Audiences will enjoy Middle Eastern art and ethnomusicology, films, folkdance, poetry and lectures.

"Sharing my Islamic/African-American experience as a visual artist with Indiana University and the Bloomington community excites me," Abdul-Musawwir said. "Mixed-media abstract paintings and drawings incorporating contemporary Islamic and African-American history (text), and Islamic forms into two-dimensional paintings, and installations have allowed me to unveil a broader visual discussion to the art and academic community."

William R. Bruns, an information technology technical associate at the Student Center, was honored last fall as the TKE top volunteer. He is currently chapter adviser for Tau Kappa Epsilon.