Kent State University President Beverly J. Warren recently presented 13 Kent State faculty members with the 2018 President’s Faculty Excellence Award, which recognizes exceptional performance that leads to the achievement of national or international recognition in the faculty member’s discipline. Dr. Robin Vande Zande (Art Education) and Mahwish Chishty (Foundations) both received this prestigious honor.
Mahwish Chishty, assistant professor in the School of Art, has had more than 50 national and international exhibitions in the past 10 years, including an invited solo exhibition at the Imperial War Museum of London and a group show on the artist’s response to war and conflict since 9/11 that featured work from the top artists in the world today. In 2017, she was awarded the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for exceptional creative ability in the arts. Ms. Chishty is currently working on cross-border projects along the U.S./Mexico and Pakistan/Afghanistan borders.
Robin Vande Zande, Ph.D., is a professor in the School of Art. In 2017, she received the Kent State Distinguished Teaching Award, the National Art Education Higher Educator of the Year Award, Western Region Art Education Higher Educator of the Year Award and Ohio Art Educator of the Year Award. She also was named Distinguished Fellow of the National Art Education Association. In 2014, Dr. Vande Zande was named Outstanding Design Educator by the Design Issues Group of the National Art Education Association. She published her book “Design Education: Creating Thinkers to Improve the World” in 2016. Dr. Vande Zande also works as a consultant for the South Carolina Department of Education to develop state design education standards.
“At its core, higher education is about the primacy of ideas, and behind every extraordinary idea is an extraordinary person – our world-class faculty are not only tirelessly dedicated to making a difference through the power and application of ideas, but by leading and inspiring the next generation of scientists, artists, makers, entrepreneurs and others to do the same,” President Warren said. “Those recognized by this awards program truly exemplify what it means to be excellent at Kent State, through learning-centered teaching, innovative and meaningful research, and an approach to their work that looks beyond the walls of their classrooms or laboratories.”