Distinguished Professor, Scholar and Staff of the Year honored at awards banquet

     (From left) Dr. Kathryn Norwood, Dr. Ogbochi McKinney and Nathan Hicks   

Riverside, Calif. (May 5, 2017)—California Baptist University honored two faculty and a staff member on May 4 during its annual faculty and staff awards banquet.

CBU’s Board of Trustees each year selects the Distinguished Professor and Distinguished Scholar award recipients.

Dr. Kathryn Norwood, dean of assessment and accreditation for the Division of Online and Professional Studies (OPS), was named Distinguished Professor, a faculty member who has established an impressive record of service to CBU.

Norwood has been at CBU for 11 years. She teaches education courses for OPS and helps prepare numerous reports for accreditation purposes.  

“Her students consistently characterize her as passionate, articulate, engaging, and clearly an expert at ensuring that students are able to meet learning objectives in a wide range of courses,” Dr. Ronald L. Ellis, CBU president, said at the awards ceremony. “Dr. Norwood exemplifies a servant’s heart wherever she goes.”

Dr. Ogbochi McKinney, assistant professor of public health, was named Distinguished Scholar. She was honored for a research proposal to study factors that contribute to an increase in mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Uganda and Nigeria. McKinney plans to assess the effect of HIV testing and counseling, in addition to measuring access to food, nutrition and HIV care, along with quantifying social support, intimate partner violence and mental health issues.  

“This project typifies the kind of scholarly research that this award is intended to recognize,” Ellis said.

Nathan Hicks, housing service coordinator in Residence Life, received the 2017 Employee of the Year award. CBU’s Executive Council selects the Employee of the Year recipient from among staff members chosen as employee of the month during the academic year. Any CBU employee may submit a nomination for employee of the month to that nominee’s supervisor.

Hicks in February responded to a fire that started in an apartment unit located in The Village. He immediately took action, made sure to vacate the immediate premises and used extinguishers to knock down the fire before the fire department responded.  

“Nathan clearly went above and beyond in this situation,” Ellis said. “Nathan exemplifies the Lancers’ spirit as well as the CBU values of excellence, teamwork and customer service.”