Fulbright College Awards

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Every year, the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences recognizes outstanding achievement in teaching, research and advising. This year’s winners of the master teacher, research and advising awards are Kathleen Condray, assistant professor of foreign languages; Raj Gupta, professor of physics; and Jeannie Whayne, chair and professor of history, for teaching; Laurent Bellaiche, professor of physics, and Joel Gordon, associate professor of history, for research; Steven Bell, associate professor of foreign languages, for advising; and graduate student Matthew Byron in history, winner of the J. Hillman Yowell Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Whayne became the first instructor to offer a year-round course about Arkansas history online through continuing education. Gupta, who has taught physics for 28 years, is known for taking complicated concepts and distilling them in a way that students can understand and appreciate. Condray often uses symbolic objects and clothing from German-speaking countries as well as elements from American pop culture to remind students of how vibrant the German language can be.

Gordon has written critically praised books and essays on the history of Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Egypt, including a close study of popular culture and civic identity under Nasser. Bellaiche, who has established a world-class research program in computational matter physics at the University of Arkansas, has published 20 articles in Physical Review Letters, the top journal for publishing physics research of widespread significance.

Bell, who has been instrumental in developing the Spanish program in the foreign languages department, each semester advises more than 250 students earning majors and minors in Spanish. Byron, who arrived at the University of Arkansas in 2002 to begin study for a doctorate in history, has been a master lecturer in his department since fall 2003 and has taught more than 1,000 students.

In addition, William Etges, professor of biological sciences, was awarded a prestigious Fulbright visiting fellowship for 2007-08 at Wolfson College, Cambridge. There he will work in the laboratory with the well-known geneticist Michael Ashburner, continuing his research on fruit flies to study aging and growth cycles in various species.