Robbin Crabtree, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Fairfield University, received the 2013 Distinguished Administrative Woman in Higher Education Award presented today by the Connecticut American Council on Education (ACE) Women's Network. The award is designed to recognize and honor those Connecticut women who have distinguished themselves by providing outstanding leadership to women in their institutions, in their profession, and in society-at-large.
Dr. Crabtree, a Fairfield, Conn. resident, received the award at the organization's 2013 spring conference at the University of Hartford.
"I am very pleased and proud the committee singled out Dean Robbin Crabtree," said the Rev. Paul Fitzgerald, S.J., the University's senior vice president for academic affairs. "Robbin's service to Fairfield University's Jesuit mission is exemplary in so many ways. She demonstrates on a daily basis her deep understanding of, and commitment to, Jesuit ideals of intellectual rigor, integrative ways of thinking, knowing and creating, and a willing spirit of civic engagement and social responsibility in the education of all our students for the sake of human dignity and social justice. She does all this with passion, with joy and with a generosity of spirit that is truly infectious."
Dean since 2008, Dr. Crabtree has shown a commitment to diversity and the mentoring of women in many ways. Of the 30 faculty members she has hired, 50 percent are women and a third are members of historically under-represented groups or international scholars. She has appointed and mentored at least 10 first-time women department chairs, many in departments that have never had a female chair.
"My generation of faculty often were not mentored very well, but we need to do better for the next generation," said Dr. Crabtree. "As a former department chair, I know how important it is to have guidance about professional development, and support for balancing the many responsibilities and demands facing chairs, particularly when we are motivated to change our departments for the better and make lasting contributions to the university. As dean, I want to create the conditions in which faculty can thrive, so that they are able to succeed in their research and create meaningful engagements for our students in and beyond the classroom. It's a 'pay it forward' kind of process; the better folks are mentored, the better mentors they also will be for their students and their colleagues. I also learn so much in the process. Mentoring is a two-way street, so I really see it as 'co-mentoring'."
Prior to being appointed dean, Dr. Crabtree was professor of communication and the founding director of Fairfield's Office of Service Learning. She came to the University in 2001 from New Mexico State University, where she was an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies. She was chair of the Department of Communication at Fairfield from 2001 to 2007.
Dr. Crabtree was named Teacher of the Year in 2007 by Fairfield's chapter of Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit honor society. She has published more than 40 scholarly articles and chapters and presented papers at academic conferences across the country and in several international contexts.
Media Contact: Meredith Guinness, (203) 254-4000, ext. 2950, mguinness@fairfield.edu
Posted on March 22, 2013
Vol. 45, No. 230
Four Fairfield University communication professors will present their most recent research into such diverse topics as the Internet, advertising, Lyme Disease and roller derby at "Talk About Communication: Twenty-five Years of Communication at Fairfield University," a free lecture series held on campus. The public is welcome to the second session in the series, which will be held at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 4, 2013, in the DiMenna-Nyselius Library.
Paul Maloney, Ed.D., a Fairfield University assistant professor who has been a senior manager at several international corporations, will lead a full-day workshop, "Leadership Styles," on Friday, May 3. The event will run from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Fairfield University's Alumni House. The fee is $99.
Fairfield University continues its celebration of Women's History Month into April with six events. They are sponsored by the University's Program in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGS).
Ever wonder how Pabst Blue Ribbon became the beer of choice of the hipster set? How about how the U.S. Army morphed into a popular videogame?
Fairfield University alumna Donna Gillotte '00 comes home to the Fairfield University Bookstore, 1499 Post Road, Fairfield, to discuss her new book, "Secret of a Medici Mistress," at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. The event is free and open to the public.
Fairfield University will host a free screening of the film "A Question of Habit," a lively look at contemporary depictions of nuns, followed by a Q&A with director Bren Ortega Murphy at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 8. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place in the University's DiMenna-Nyselius Library multimedia room. Light refreshments will be provided.
The 2013Carl and Dorothy Bennett Lecture in Judaic Studies at Fairfield University will be delivered by Bob Simon, the most honored journalist in international reporting who has been contributing regularly to 60 Minutes for over 16 years and reporting for CBS News since 1967. The event will take place on Thursday, April 4, 2013, at 7 p.m., at Fairfield University's Quick Center for the Arts. Tickets are $20 and are available through the Quick Center Box Office: (203) 254-4010, or toll-free 1-877-ARTS-396 (1-877-278-7396). Tickets can also be purchased online at quickcenter.com.
Donald E. Gibson, Ph.D., interim dean of Fairfield University's Charles F. Dolan School of Business for nearly two years and a respected and popular faculty member for the past 12 years, has been named the new dean of the business school. His appointment follows an extensive national search.
Author Steven Ochs will tell the fascinating tale of late Fairfield native Michael J. Daly - from his "hell-raising youth" to his heroics on the WWII battlefield to his tireless voluntarism at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport - at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 23, 2013, at the Fairfield University Bookstore, 1499 Post Road, Fairfield. Ochs' talk is free and open to the public.
After returning from war, Daly was a longtime board member at St. Vincent’s Medical Center, where he championed the cause of the indigent poor and terminally ill. He was posthumously awarded the first Fairfield Award from the Fairfield Museum and History Center for his life of service. The Museum is co-sponsoring his appearance at the Bookstore with the University’s MFA in Creative Writing Program and its Learning for a Lifetime Program.
Fairfield University's Zeta Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest academic honor society, is pleased to announce that the 2013 honorary inductee will be Paul Lakeland, Ph.D., the Aloysius P. Kelley S.J. Professor of Catholic Studies and founding director of the Center for Catholic Studies at Fairfield. A Trumbull, Conn., resident, he is an internationally recognized Catholic theologian, whose scholarly work on the nature of the Roman Catholic Church continues to generate study and debate among the major scholars in his field. Dr. Lakeland, who called the honor "one of the high points of my academic career," will be formally inducted at the chapter's April 20, 2013 ceremony.
Two environmental activists, Elise Keaton and Paul Corbit Brown, will present "What's Wrong with Mountaintop Removal?" at 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 19, 2013, at Fairfield University. Their talk, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J. Presentation Room.
Five Fairfield University professors who visited Havana in January will give their multidisciplinary impressions of contemporary Cuba in "Havana Today: Between Continuity and Change" on Thursday, March 21, 2013, at 6 p.m. The discussion, which is free and open to the public, will take place in the University's DiMenna-Nyselius Library multimedia room.
Fairfield University announces its second "Ignatian Heritage Week" taking place March 17, 2013, through March 22, 2013. Events take place throughout the Fairfield University campus. All events are free, with many open to the public. A highlight of the week's activities features the Annual Ignatian Lecture with Philip Endean, S.J., Professor of Theology at Oxford and the current holder of the Gasson Chair at Boston College presenting the lecture: "Jesuit Education: Some Awkward Questions." The lecture takes place at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 21, 2013, at Fairfield University's Dolan School of Business Dining Room and is open to the public. Ignatian Heritage Week is held in collaboration with Jesuit Mission Initiatives, Campus Ministry, the Center for Catholic Studies, and the Center for Faith and Public Life. Other events open to the public include:
Fairfield University invites students, alumni, parents, faculty, staff and friends on Saturday, March 16, 2013, to march in the historic St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City, New York. Fairfield University is a premium sponsor this year, and the Fairfield contingent will be televised marching up Fifth Avenue on New York's WNBC Channel 4 to over half a million households. Fairfield University President Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J., will also be interviewed live on WNBC.
Fairfield University's Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions (GSEAP) will host a free public film series beginning on Wednesday, February 20 with the first of three films about the American educational system and related topics. The series is sponsored by GSEAP, The Office of Graduate Student Life and the Connecticut Writing Project-Fairfield.
Author/philanthropist John Wood, who left a lucrative executive career at Microsoft to found an award-winning nonprofit building schools, libraries and vital opportunities for children around the world, will speak at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, February 12. His lecture, "Creating Room to Read: A Story of Hope in the Battle for Global Literacy," is free and open to the public.
The 2013 Bellarmine Lecture
