{"id":27,"date":"2024-09-06T21:03:10","date_gmt":"2024-09-06T21:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/aahm\/?page_id=27"},"modified":"2026-04-19T03:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T03:49:12","slug":"john-pleas-award","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/aahm\/john-pleas-award\/","title":{"rendered":"The John Pleas Faculty Award"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Excellence in teaching, research, and service&nbsp;is at the heart of the John Pleas Faculty Award. It is presented annually to a faculty member at MTSU who best embodies the respect for diversity as described in the university&#8217;s Community Standards and Values. This prestigious award honors individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to making a difference in the academic journeys of underserved and at-risk students. The recognition ceremony takes place during African American History Month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The John Pleas Faculty Award was established in 1997 to honor Dr. John Pleas, MTSU Professor&nbsp;Emeritus of Psychology.&nbsp; Dr. Pleas was the recipient of the Outstanding Teaching Award in 1999 and is the author of&nbsp;<em>Walking<\/em>, published in 1981 by W.W. Norton &amp; Company.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Eligibility Criteria:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Service Duration<\/strong>: Nominees must have completed at least five years of service at MTSU.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Supporting Letters<\/strong>: Three letters supporting the nomination that address the nominee&#8217;s excellence in teaching, research, and service and the nominee&#8217;s positive impact on underserved and\/or at-risk students&#8217; academic journeys.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>CV and Cover Letter:<\/strong>&nbsp;A current CV that documents excellence in teaching, research, and service and a cover letter are required.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Selection Process:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The award recipient is chosen by the John Pleas&nbsp;Award Committee, which includes previous awardees and retired faculty members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Previous Recipients<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list is-style-compact-list\">\n<li>2025 &#8211; Carmelita Dotson, Ed.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2023 &#8211; Chandra Story, Ph.D.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2022 &#8211; Andrew Owusu, Ph.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2021 &#8211; Jennifer Woodard, Ph.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2020 &#8211; Leah Tolbert Lyons, Ph.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2019&nbsp;\u2014 Franklin Michello, Ph.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2018&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;Louis L. Woods, Ph.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2017&nbsp;\u2014 Dr. Barbara Turnage<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2016&nbsp;\u2014 Dr. Linda M. Clark&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2015&nbsp;\u2014 Michaele F. Chappell, Ph.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2014 \u2014&nbsp;Sekou Franklin, Ph.D. &nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2013 \u2014&nbsp;Newtona Johnson, Ph.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2012 \u2014&nbsp;Cheryl Slaughter Ellis, Ph.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2011 \u2014&nbsp;Raphael Bundage, D.M.A.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2010 \u2014&nbsp;Dwight Patterson, Ph.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2009 \u2014&nbsp;Adonijah Bakari, Ph.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2008 \u2014&nbsp;Marva S. Lucas, Ed.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2007 \u2014&nbsp;Connie Jones-Wade, Ed.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2006 \u2014&nbsp;Rosemary Wade Owens, Ed.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2005 \u2014&nbsp;Patricia Patterson, Ph.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2004 \u2014&nbsp;Anantha Babbili, Ph.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2003 \u2014&nbsp;Bertha Smith Clark, Ph.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2002 \u2014&nbsp;Alphonse Carter, Ph.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2001 \u2014&nbsp;Sharon Shaw-McEwen, Ed.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2000 \u2014&nbsp;Gloria Bonner, Ed.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1999 \u2014&nbsp;Laura Jarmon, Ph.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1998 \u2014&nbsp;Bichaka Fayissa, Ph.D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1997 \u2014&nbsp;Robert Rucker, M.S.W.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Excellence in teaching, research, and service&nbsp;is at the heart of the John Pleas Faculty Award. It is presented annually to a faculty member at MTSU who best embodies the respect for diversity as described in the university&#8217;s Community Standards and Values. This prestigious award honors individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to making a difference [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-bannernosidebar.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-27","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/aahm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/aahm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/aahm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/aahm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/aahm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/aahm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/aahm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions\/195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/aahm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}