Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching
The Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching recognizes a colleague for commitment
to outstanding teaching in Loyola’s graduate programs. Graduate teaching takes many
forms, ranging from traditional classroom instruction to connecting students with
practicing professionals, to mentoring their skill building, supervising in professional
settings, and many other ways of nurturing academic and/or artistic talent as emerging
professionals.
Beginning in 2017, this faculty award honors the unique efforts of faculty teaching
in graduate programs as they work to facilitate graduate student development as effective
leaders and change agents. Selection is based on department and student nominations
to a small committee of graduate academic administrators. The recipient will be announced
at Maryland Day. Colleagues who have been nominated in the past may be re-nominated.
Colleagues can only receive the award once.
Current Awardee
2025 - John W. Michel, management and organizations
John W. Michel is an Associate Professor of Management & Organizations in the Joseph A. Sellinger, S.J., School of Business & Management at Loyola University Maryland. He holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Studies from the State University of New York at Albany and an M.S. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. As an organizational psychologist and award-winning researcher, John examines workplace fun, interpersonal relationships, and supportive leadership, focusing on how these factors enhance prosocial behavior, collaboration, engagement, well-being, and employee retention. His recent research explores how fostering friendships at work through workplace fun can help combat loneliness, poor sleep quality, and emotional exhaustion in today’s workforce.
John regularly teaches undergraduate courses in organizational behavior and graduate courses in leadership and negotiations. He is also in the process of developing a new MBA elective, Managing High-Quality Connections, which will explore how to build, sustain, and leverage meaningful workplace relationships. Drawing heavily on his research in interpersonal relationships and fun at work, the course will provide students with evidence-based strategies to strengthen workplace interactions and foster a more engaging, supportive work environment.
Past Awardees
2024 - Matthew Kirkhart, psychology
Matthew W. Kirkhart is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology. In 1997 he joined the department to teach primarily in the graduate programs after completing his PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. During his time at Loyola he has contributed to graduate education in the department’s Masters and Doctoral programs through teaching courses on cognition and learning, research methodology, and counseling theories and psychotherapy approaches, supervising doctoral students’ psychotherapy work at the Loyola Clinical Centers, overseeing thesis and dissertation research by graduate students, and serving as the director of the Practitioner Track in the Masters program in the Department of Psychology from 2003 to 2006. He was the inaugural awardee of the Maryland Psychological Association of Graduate Students (MPAGS) Mentoring Award in 2007 and views strong mentorship as an integral aspect of graduate training, as well as an important part of Jesuit education.
2023 - Irene Bal, education specialties
Irene A. Bal is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Educational Technology Graduate Program. She teaches graduate-level educational technology courses on multimedia design, innovation, research, and leadership in PK-12 schools. Irene has received multiple technology and design, development, and implementation grants for PK-12 learning experiences. Irene presents locally and globally at conferences and has recent publications on micro-credentials, innovative technology in the classroom, and instructional design approaches for implicit bias simulations. Irene is a doctoral candidate in the Instructional Design & Technology Ph.D. Program at Old Dominion University in Virginia.
2022 - Dave Luvison, management and organizations
Dr. Dave Luvison is an Executive in Residence in the Management and Organizations department of the Sellinger School of Business and Management, starting in 2015. He earned his Doctor of Business Administration from the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University, an MBA from Miami University of Ohio, and a B.A. in English from John Carroll University. His research interests include teamwork and collaboration, which he incorporates into his classroom teaching. Prior to academia, he spent over 20 years in industry managing areas including marketing, sales, and finance. His international experience includes his Fulbright Specialist grant in the Netherlands, as well as consulting engagements in Saudi Arabia, Panama, Denmark, and Canada.
2021 - Gregory Hoplamazian, communication
Dr. Greg Hoplamazian joined Loyola in 2011 as an assistant professor in the Department of Communication after earning his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. He was brought in to teach in their advertising track, focusing on courses which introduce students to advertising practice, research, and creative development.
Dr. Hoplamazian is currently the Academic Director of the Emerging Media (M.A.) program and teaches a range of courses related to how new media technologies are changing the nature of advertising and public relations practice, including for promoting health behaviors. He has been part of creating several courses in this program including Emerging Media in Strategic Communication, Foundations of Health Communication, and Health Communication Campaigns. Teaching in the Emerging Media graduate program has been extremely rewarding because of how much he has learned from his students’ own experiences and course contributions.
His research interests center on the role of social identity in advertising outcomes, and understanding how social media platforms are used by individuals and organizations for crisis communication.
2020 - Kelly Keane, education specialties
Kelly Keane, Ed.D, Senior Lecturer and Director of the Educational Technology Program, has taught at Loyola since 2014. Her research and professional interests encompass technology integration and student engagement, blended and online teaching, Universal Design for Learning, and instructional design. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she leads Loyola's Digital Pedagogy Workshop each summer for faculty who are interested in transitioning their courses to the hybrid and online environments. Prior to joining the faculty at Loyola, Dr. Keane was a lecturer at Towson University for the Department of Educational Technology and Literacy. She has also worked as the assistant manager for the Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) Grant in the tri-state area. Dr. Keane began her career as a classroom teacher and has taught in award-winning elementary schools in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She is passionate about learning, constantly seeking ways to improve, and believes a growth mindset can be your most powerful tool. In her classroom, she incorporates the latest educational technologies and the Jesuit mission and she tries to remain technology-free in her spare time.
2019 - Gerard Athaide, marketing and Nan Ellis, information systems, law and operations
Gerard A. Athaide is the Busch Scholar and Professor of Marketing in the Joseph A.
Sellinger, S.J., School of Business and Management at Loyola University Maryland.
He
received his Ph.D. and MBA from Syracuse University. He joined the Loyola faculty
in 1992. His teaching and research interests focus on innovation management and new
product development. Gerard has taught courses on New Product Development in the undergraduate
and graduate programs at Loyola University. In addition, he co-leads a PMBA international
marketing course on a Chilean Study Tour.
Nan S. Ellis is a professor of law in the Joseph A. Sellinger, S.J., School of Business and Management. She received her law degree from The Ohio State University. Her research interests concern law and public policy issues, with a focus on financial regulation and policy. Her current teaching interests are in the areas of ethics and corporate social responsibility, and business law. Working with marketing professor Dr. Gerard Athaide, she takes graduate students enrolled in her International Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Class to Chile annually, where they visit such companies as Samsung, Codelco, and ACHS, along with the non-profit agency, Hogar de Cristo.
2018 - Rev. Jill Snodgrass, pastoral counseling
Rev. Jill L. Snodgrass, Ph.D., joined the Loyola faculty in 2011 and serves as associate professor of pastoral counseling. She was awarded a Ph.D. and M.A. from Claremont School of Theology, a M.Div. from Vanderbilt University, and a B.A. from Colorado College. Her research addresses issues of spirituality and religion among traditionally marginalized populations, with specific focus on individuals experiencing homelessness and women transitioning from prison. Dr. Snodgrass is dedicated to inspiring and compassionately enhancing adult learners' learning and critical thinking. Her reputation among colleagues and students is exemplary and has earned her teaching evaluations substantially above those for her department and College, with many of her scores averaging a perfect 4.0.
2017 - Cheryl Moore-Thomas, education specialties 
Cheryl Moore-Thomas is a Professor of Education in the School Counseling program. She received her Ph.D. in Counselor Education from the University of Maryland. Her research interests include multicultural counseling competence, college access, racial identity development, spiritual identity development of adolescents, and accountability in school counseling programs. Her current teaching interests are in the areas of cross cultural counseling and group counseling. Prior to arriving at Loyola in 2000, Professor Moore-Thomas served as a school counselor, k-12 classroom teacher and student services specialist.