HAMBURG, N.Y. – Four Hilbert College faculty members have received 2012 Excellence in Teaching, Scholarship and Service Awards, which are presented in recognition of individual faculty achievements. The recipients were honored at the college’s academic honors reception held on May 11 as part of commencement weekend.
Faculty-selected Excellence Awards were presented to Andrew Kolin, Ph.D., professor of political science, Excellence in Scholarship; Lisa Lograsso, adjunct instructor of mathematics, Excellence in Adjunct Teaching; Sharon Sisti, chairperson of the Social Sciences Division and assistant professor of human and rehabilitation services; and Amy Smith, Ph.D., chairperson of the Division of Arts and Sciences and director of the Honors Program, Excellence in Service.
Joining the Hilbert faculty in 1999, Kolin has focused his areas of research on political theory, the Holocaust and genocidal crimes, and American democracy. Following years of extensive research, he authored the book One Family: Before and During the Holocaust, which chronicles his family during the pre-Holocaust period and their fight to survive the Holocaust. Nominated for an American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies/Orbis Books Ltd. Prize for Polish Studies, a second expanded edition of the book has been published.
In 2011, Kolin, an Orchard Park resident, authored State Power and Democracy: Before and During the Presidency of George W. Bush, and previously published State Structure and Genocide and The Ethical Foundations of Hume’s Theory of Politics.
Kolin, who has served as a reviewer for several professional publications, is a member of the American Political Science Association and the Northeast Association of Pre-Law Advisors.
He holds doctorate and master’s degrees in political science from the City University of New York Graduate Center, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Lehman College.
Lograsso has served as a Hilbert adjunct instructor of mathematics for the past decade. Prior to this, she was a math teacher at Silver Creek Middle School and at St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School.
An Angola resident, she is a member of the Eden Central School District Shared Decision Making Committee.
Lograsso is an alumna of Hilbert, having earned an associate’s degree in business administration from the college. She went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in education, both from Canisius College.
A faculty member at Hilbert since 1996, this marks the third time Sisti has been selected for a Faculty Excellence Award, having previously received a 2009 Excellence in Service Award and her first Teaching Award in 2004.
In addition to her dedication to teaching, for the past 30 years, Sisti has been an advocate for domestic violence victims, a commitment for which she was recognized with the 2009 William B. Hoyt Award from the Erie County Coalition Against Family Violence. That same year she received the William B. Hoyt Advocacy Award from Child & Family Services of Erie County and was named Social Worker of the Year by the Western Division of the National Association of Social Workers New York State Chapter.
A member of the National Association of Social Workers, Sisti, a Buffalo resident, has been a speaker on domestic violence and batterer intervention, foster care and related topics at several conferences and workshops.
She received a master’s degree in social work from the University at Buffalo and a bachelor’s degree in music education from the State University of New York College at Fredonia.
Smith was honored this year with her third Excellence in Service Award, a recognition she previously received in 2008 and 2000. Since joining the Hilbert faculty in 1996, she’s overseen and been involved in several college community service projects and service learning endeavors, including the Kenya Krew international service learning trip and various student projects to benefit local families and communities.
Active in the Western New York community, Smith has been a volunteer counselor for 25 years at Camp Good Days and Special Times, which has recognized her many years of service at its annual gala event. She’s coordinated several efforts at Hilbert to support the many children and families served by the organization.
Smith also is a volunteer in the Birthday Squad of Buffalo, which hosts monthly birthday parties for children residing in the city’s homeless facilities, and volunteers in Hospice Buffalo’s children bereavement programs.
In addition to teaching English at Hilbert, she is director of the college’s Honors Program and chairperson of the Arts and Sciences Division, a post she was appointed to this academic year.
Smith is a member of the American Studies Association, Modern Language Association, Society for the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, and the Society for the Study of Narrative Literature.
A Lancaster resident, she earned doctorate and master’s degrees in English from UB, and a bachelor’s degree in English from Allegheny College.