Each year, three outstanding scholars and educators receive the Faculty Award for Distinguished University Service, recognizing service that significantly affects the quality of the University. This year all three awards go to Arts and Sciences faculty who prove that they can do it all—exceptionally well. Jay Hobgood, geography; Ruth Peterson, sociology; and Amanda Simcox, molecular genetics, demonstrate a remarkable record of service to their students, their departments, the Arts and Sciences, the university, and local and global constituencies.

Jay Hobgood, who received the Ohio State Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award in 1996, is committed to teaching and mentoring students and serving as a positive role model and wise counselor. Hobgood has coordinated the workshop for new Teaching Associates in geography and atmospheric sciences since 2001; his work to prepare and nurture them reflects his singular focus on developing quality leaders as well as teachers. In addition, for nearly fifteen years, Hobgood has been the Meteorology Club’s faculty adviser, helping them secure internship opportunities and guiding their efforts to organize and host an annual severe weather symposium. This dedication to students and their career development has earned him a reputation as a passionate advocate for undergraduate and graduate students alike. He is also engaged in academic service, has chaired the Social and Behavioral Sciences’ Curriculum Committee, served on the Arts and Sciences Senate, Committee on Curriculum and Instruction, and Task Force on Environmental Sciences. Currently, Hobgood chairs the Council on Academic Affairs and sits on the Executive Coordinating Committee for Semester Conversion.

Ruth Peterson’s impact on the university was first felt in the early 1990s when she became sociology’s director of undergraduate studies. Her first task, to organize a new Undergraduate Student Services office, was a stunning success, winning the 1995 Distinguished Student Service award for best student services. Peterson helped found three student organizations: the Criminology Club, the Sociology Club (or Alpha Kappa Delta honorary society), and the Organization of Black Students in Criminology and Law. In 1999, Peterson was appointed director of the Criminal Justice Research Center (CJRC). Since taking charge of the CJRC, she has assembled a stellar group of scholars and researchers and transformed the center into a nationally-recognized research hub for the interdisciplinary study of crime and justice issues. Peterson is considered by many to be the national authoritative voice on race, ethnicity, crime, and justice. In 2005, Peterson launched the Crime and Justice Summer Program, the first-of-its-kind nationwide summer workshop to support the advancement of minority scholars engaged in the academic study of race, crime and justice.

Amanda Simcox engages in extensive, comprehensive service activities around campus, the surrounding community and around the world. Simcox is always all about students. As the Honor’s advisor in molecular genetics, she provides the same personal attention to 50 undergraduates that she does to her graduate students. She started a club for molecular genetics majors in 1999 and is still its advisor. Simcox will go anywhere and do anything to promote an interest in science. For more than a decade, Simcox and her undergraduate students have taken exciting molecular science to Columbus Public High Schools. Using a DNA fingerprinting unit Simcox invented, high school students are challenged to solve a “crime-scene investigation scenario.” Simcox and biochemistry colleague Venkat Gopalan, have generated NSF-funded summer research experiences for disadvantaged and underrepresented students since 2005. Recently, they created an interactive, teleconferencing science course for Ohio State students and Indian counterparts, which will be repeated in the fall. Last December, they went to India to offer workshops on “Tools for success beyond the laboratory bench.”