Grand Valley faculty members were celebrated February 14 for their
achievements and for "defining the spirit and culture of the university."
Fatma Mili, provost and executive vice president for Academic
Affairs, welcomed faculty members and their guests at the annual
Faculty Convocation held at the DeVos Center on the Pew Grand Rapids
Campus. Mili said it was her honor to celebrate service awardees and
award recipients.
"Faculty define the spirit and the culture of the
university," Mili said. "Faculty produce new scholarship
that transforms the state of knowledge of our society. Faculty bring
issues to our collective consciousness and heighten our awareness and
sensitivity to them."
Mili said faculty members educate thousands of students each year and
work to shape the "intellectual ecosystem of society, and form
the moral character of multiple generations."
University Awards for Excellence were presented,
as were awards from the Center for Scholarly and Creative Excellence
and Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center. Descriptions of their research or innovations are
posted on the Office of the Provost website. Faculty members with
25-40 years of service were also recognized at the event.
Bopi Biddanda, professor of water resources, gave a convocation
address, "Water Stories in the Biosphere: Great Lakes to the
Sierra Nevada."
Biddanda told five, one-minute stories about microbes in water
systems, including research he conducted with the University of
Granada in Spain.
He received a Fulbright Scholar award in 2021 to teach and
conduct research in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
