NEWPORT, R.I. - President Jane Gerety, RSM, has announced the latest recipients of grant awards from the Antone Fund for Academic Excellence: Dr. Sally Gomaa, associate professor in the Department of English; Dr. Kathleen Vespia, assistant professor and chairwoman of the Department of Education; and Dr. Carol Gibbons, associate professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences. Gomaa received the Recognition Award, while Vespia and Gibbons received the Special Projects Award.
Established in 2004, the Antone Fund for Academic Excellence is intended to recognize and support faculty who engage in activities that enhance their ability to be premier teachers and scholars and advance student scholarship.
Recognition Award
Gomaa received the Recognition Award for her efforts to foster intercultural awareness and understanding both on campus and in the larger scholarly community. Gomaa recently lectured about her translation of the award-winning novel "Red Wine" by Amina Zaydan, saying that she was encouraged by Zaydan to tackle the interpretation as if the novel were her own.
Gomaa was born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt, and is a native Arabic speaker. She holds a bachelor's degree in English from Alexandria University, a master's degree in writing from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and a doctoral degree in rhetoric and composition English from the University of Rhode Island.
Special Projects Award
Vespia and Gibbons received the Special Projects Award to develop a collaborative approach to address the needs of the University's aspiring math teachers as well as math students enrolled in Rogers High School's Alternative Learning Program. Within this past year, Vespia helped four secondary education students create a basic math class for the students in the Alternative Learning Program.
Vespia holds bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology from the University of Rhode Island and a doctorate in educational leadership from Johnson and Wales University. Gibbons holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Merrimack College and a master's degree in mathematics and a doctorate in applied mathematics from the University of Rhode Island.