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Rodgers named USI's 2016 Distinguished Professor

April 14, 2016

Dr. Kathy V. Rodgers, professor of mathematics, is the 2016 recipient of USI's Distinguished Professor Award. She is being honored for her leadership, teaching excellence and passion for student success. She will receive the award during the Commencement ceremony for the Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education.

Rodgers began her career at USI in 1990, and for over 25 years, she has been involved with student education and departmental development at USI. Her leadership includes serving as associate chair, acting chair and chair of the Mathematics Department, a position she held for 12 years. She has long been recognized for her role in collaboration across colleges, departments and other universities.

Rodgers was a founding member of USI's Council of Chairs and Program Directors, and served as the chair of this organization for two years. She was invited to nationally share numerous innovative ideas related to the teaching and learning of mathematics; she spoke at meetings for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the American Association of Colleges and Universities, the National Academic Advising Association, the Higher Learning Commission and numerous regional and state meetings. She also served on the National Science Foundation's selection committee for the prestigious NOYCE grants.

Among the many advisory boards, committees and task forces she served on while at USI, most notable is serving as USI's representative on the Indiana Commission for Higher Education's Math Innovation Council and the Indiana Core Transfer Library. She also has been associated with state and regional efforts through her participation with the Indiana Statewide Transfer and Articulation Committee and with Northwest Kentucky's Forward Education First Task Force. Additional leadership roles include the Indiana Department of Education's Algebra Project and the National Advisory Committee, and the Alumni Advisory Committee both for the Department of Mathematics at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Student success is at the center of her work in all capacities. At USI, Rodgers is praised by her peers for her efforts to improve departmental offerings for majors, with an understanding of the factors that impact student success. She has demonstrated commitment to improving the teaching and delivery of mathematics, and works diligently as an academic advisor to guarantee that advisees have a viable path to graduation.

Rodgers has been recognized at USI as a champion of academic integrity and standards that serve as her responsibility as a teacher to help students master the skills that will serve them well in their academic and professional lives. In 2000, she was named Faculty Member of the Year, and in 2011 she received the University Advising Award.

In 1971 she received her bachelor's degree in mathematics from Western Kentucky University. She continued her education at the University of Evansville and, in 1979, received a master's degree in mathematics education. In 1995, she received her doctorate in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in mathematics from Southern Illinois University.

Rodgers will retire in 2016. She and her husband, Terry reside in Morganfield, Kentucky.

As a recipient of the Distinguished Professor Award, Rodgers will receive a monetary award underwritten by generous donors to the USI Foundation and will select a student to receive a Foundation scholarship in her name in the coming year. She also will deliver the address at USI's Fall Commencement in December. 

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