Three Honored For Teaching & Advising Excellence

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (April 6, 2005)—Karl Muller, Rose Mary Witham, and Kaan Kuzu have received 2004-2005 Dillwyn P. Paiste, III and Fred Brand, Jr. Awards from Penn State's Smeal College of Business. The awards, which recognize excellence in teaching and advising at the college, were presented April 5 during a ceremony at the Nittany Lion Inn.

As part of the awards process, each Smeal department nominates one faculty member and one graduate assistant. All advisors with more than two years of service are also eligible. Students then offer their support of the nominees, with a selection committee of past honorees and student representatives selecting the recipients.

Muller, recipient of the Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, is an associate professor of accounting. "Karl Muller cares about students and the accounting profession," one student nominee wrote. "He is always willing to help students and he takes the time to make sure that all questions are answered."

Witham received the Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising. According to one student's nomination letter, "Mrs. Witham is absolutely amazing. She makes me feel comfortable in my decisions, but is also never afraid to tell me when she thinks that I am making the wrong one, or acting before I think. That is the mark of a great advisor."

Kuzu, recipient of the Award for Excellence as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems. "He was really enthusiastic about his teaching and was always available to his students," according to one nomination letter. "He went out of his way to assist his students to make sure they understand the class material."

The awards are named in honor of 1932 Penn State graduates Dillwyn P. Paiste, III and Fred Brand, Jr. Paiste spent 35 years at Armstrong World Industries, retiring in 1971 as assistant general manager of the company's industrial division. He died in 1993. Brand was a successful insurance executive who spent much of his career with Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company. He died in 1998.