Dr. Patricia D. Siplon, Saint Michael's College professor of political science, earned the top Saint Michael’s scholarship award, the Scholarship & Artistic Achievement Award, for 2009, as selected by her faculty colleagues and presented at the Academic Convocation September 25 in the Chapel of Saint Michael the Archangel on the college campus. Dr. Louis Irwin, widely published neuroscientist, was the principal convocation speaker, talking on “Galileo and His Telescope: Four Centuries of Revelation.”
Last year’s scholarship award winner Dr. John P. Kenney, professor of religious studies, read the citation announcing Professor Siplon, as “an internationally recognized scholar on the global HIV/AIDS pandemic and more broadly on global health issues and African Politics.”
Citing Professor Siplon’s wide reputation as one of Saint Michael’s most passionate and skilled teachers, Professor Kenney said her scholarship has not been as widely known, although it should be, he said. He explained that Professor Siplon is a Fulbright scholar and recipient of a Rotary International Grant, both of which supported teaching and research in Tanzania. She has authored, co-authored or co-edited three books, including AIDS and the Policy Struggle in the United States (Georgetown University Press), Drugs into Bodies: Global AIDS Treatment Activism (Praeger publishers), and the Global Politics of AIDS (Lynne Reiner publisher). She has also published over two dozen peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and reviews, and presented over three dozen conference papers or invited talks.
Professor Siplon was also cited for her passion for involving students in research and activism. She was recognized for mentoring 100s of students over the past decade. Among her many teaching awards Vermont Teacher of the Year as awarded by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and the Engaged Scholar Award given by the Vermont Campus Compact for Professor Siplon’s outstanding qualities combining teaching, scholarship and the involvement of students.
Professor Siplon, the citation read, “epitomizes the best of the ‘teacher-scholar’ in her commitment to high-quality undergraduate education, backed by an active program of research and scholarship that excites and enriches our students beyond their years at Saint Michael’s.”
