Author of three scholarly books on AIDS policy in the U.S. and abroad, Saint Michael's College Political Science Professor Patricia Siplon is as engaged in teaching and in involving her students in her research as she is in scholarship. Her outstanding qualities combining scholarship, teaching and involving students landed her the top award, the Engaged Scholar Award, at the Vermont Campus Compact 2009 “Through a Civic Lens” Conference, held April 1, in the Davis Center at the University of Vermont.
Professor Siplon was cited for her “integration of teaching, research and service at the very heart of her professional life.” She was especially praised for “her willingness to welcome students to share in her own research projects as well as to inspire and encourage them to pursue their own areas of scholarly interest and to skillfully mentor them when they find it.”
Among her achievements, noted at the ceremony, were: using her research to address the HIV/AIDS crisis; securing grants to support her research/travel to Africa and Barbados, and that of her students; support of the Ilula Orphan Program for HIV/AIDS orphans in Tanzania; creating international service-learning courses; forming a very active Student Global AIDS Campaign on campus, and much more.
In addition to her three books, Professor Siplon has published many journal articles and book chapters. Her article, published with her student Jamila Headley ’06, titled “Roadblocks on the Road to Treatment: Lessons from Brazil and Barbados,” has been described as “the first time a major mainstream political science journal devoted significant attention to the issue of HIV/AIDS as a general topic of interest to political scientists.” This reinforces her perspective that HIV/AIDS is a political and economic issue first and a medical issue secondarily.