John Snyder
Press Release from The Ohio State University at Lima: The Ohio State University at Lima has announced the winners of the 2020 faculty mentorship, scholarship and teaching awards and the 2020 Dedicated Staff Award. View the virtual announcement from Ohio State Lima’s dean and director, associate dean and assistant deans at https://go.osu.edu/2020facultystaffawards.
Virginia Tompkins
The Ohio State Lima Faculty Award for Sustained Student Mentorship recognizes sustained excellence over several years in mentoring undergraduate scholarly or creative endeavors. The 2020 winner is John R. Snyder, professor of health and rehabilitation sciences. He has mentored six Ohio State Lima student projects over the past five years and his students regularly present their projects at the Lima Undergraduate Research Forum. These undergraduate research experiences have prepared these students for continued success, such as attending doctoral programs or law school for three of these students. Student excellence in Dr. Snyder’s laboratory extends beyond the typical research presentations. Dr. Snyder’s work with his students focuses on community health around healthy eating. His work has had a real impact on the Ohio State Lima campus and our community, including a student project that led to the creation of Ohio State Lima’s on-campus food pantry for students and a healthy corner store intervention in the community.
The Ohio State Lima Outstanding Scholar Award recognizes a faculty member for scholarship representing a significant contribution in the scholar’s discipline. The 2020 winner is Virginia Tompkins, associate professor of psychology. Dr. Tompkins’ research in the field of theory of mind development has resulted in the publication of multiple articles in the last several years. Her work has been widely cited, and her 2018 article “The Relation between Parents’ Mental State Talk and Children’s Social Understanding: A Meta-Analysis” was recognized in both 2018 and 2019 as a top-cited paper in the journal Social Development. Because of the high citation count, Dr. Tompkins was interviewed for a social media campaign to promote gender equality in research for International Women’s Day. Colleagues in her field have noted that Dr. Tompkins “has an innovative, focused research agenda” and that her “scholarship is important and outstanding.”
Britt Collier-Gibson
The Outstanding Teaching Award at Ohio State Lima is a student-driven honor. The 2020 Outstanding Teaching Award winner is Britt Collier-Gibson, lecturer in education. Students praised Dr. Collier-Gibson’s innovative teaching style, her commitment to proactively assess the needs of her students, her contributions to mental health advocacy and a communication style that bridges any gap between professor and student.
Nancy Vennekotter
Ohio State Lima’s Dedicated Staff Award recognizes a campus staff member who has demonstrated positive work ethic and a record of involvement, utilizes a leadership style that is an example for others to emulate and displays a strong sense of pride and spirit for Ohio State Lima. For her welcoming, helpful attitude and her willingness to help people become more self-sufficient, the 2020 Dedicated Staff Award winner is Nancy Vennekotter. She is a faculty services office associate.
