Richard Eberst has been awarded the 2004 Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement. The award recognizes early-career faculty who practice exemplary engaged scholarship through teaching and research. Recipients are selected on the basis of their collaboration with communities, institutional impact, and high-quality academic work.
Richard Eberst, Ph.D., CHES, FASHA, is the Director of Community-University Partnerships (CUP) at California State University, San Bernardino and professor and former Chairperson of the Health Science and Human Ecology Department. As the founding Director of CUP, Dr. Eberst developed many community partnerships and advanced community engagement efforts across all five divisions of the university. Having earned his Ph.D. in Health Education from the University of Maryland, his M.S. in Physiology and Health Science from Ball State University and his B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from Park University, he is a true academician and scholar. Further, Dr. Eberst unites his disciplinary expertise with community needs to benefit students and the neighboring communities through a deep commitment to the scholarship of engagement. As a direct result of his efforts, there have been major increases in the number of CSUSB faculty and students who are engaged in the San Bernardino community and making a difference across the region. Dr. Eberst is passionate about bringing faculty scholarship into the community and was responsible for the addition of “Community Engagement” in CSUSB’s Strategic Plan. His “Focus 92411” initiative has involved community hospitals, public health departments and many local community organizations to improve the quality of life for residents. Yet, his work has not stopped there. He also started many other community partnerships such as: the Vital Communities Dialogue Partnership; the 40th Street Neighborhood Regeneration Partnership; the African-American Health Initiative, the Community Benefits Collaborative and the PAL Center Partnership.
Honorable Mentions:
Bunyan Bryant, Ph.D. is the Director and Co-Founder of the Environmental Justice Initiative at the University of Michigan in the School of Natural Resources and Environment. Dr. Bryant has been involved in linking advocacy and activism with social justice on campus and within the community. He is often called upon to speak and teach as an expert on issues of environmental justice and organizational advocacy. Believing that no other concern threatens nations more than global climate change, he has merged his commitment to issues of social inequality with his passion for environmental justice. In this spirit, Dr. Bryant has worked with his students to plan international Environmental Justice Global Climate Change conferences and to encourage grassroots activism.
Marybeth Lima, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at Louisiana State University. Through her service-learning classes, Dr. Lima has worked alongside her undergraduate students to design, implement and raise funds for “dream playgrounds,” butterfly gardens and even an outside classroom for elementary school students. Working in collaboration with teachers and community partners, Dr. Lima’s goal is to build a safe playground for every public school in Baton Rouge, all of which will be accessible for physically challenged children and will incorporate the children’s own creativity. Dr. Lima widely disseminates what she has learned about engineering and community development through publications and presentations. Her commitment extends not only to the higher education community but also to primary and secondary science teachers through a statewide workshop called “Experience Science Saturday” and to various community organizations.
Shirley Tang, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston where she holds an unprecedented joint appointment in American Studies and Asian American Studies. Dr. Tang has rich experience working in and with immigrant and refugee communities; she has organized various advocacy efforts in Southeast Asian American communities and has led collaborative research projects in the Boston area. Her teaching and research interests include: Asian immigrant/refugee community research; women of color/youth expressive culture; and comparative race/ethnicity/culture. Dr. Tang is currently engaged in a number of research projects, including a manuscript based on her extensive fieldwork as a street outreach worker working with gang-involved youth.