04/17/2018
Two SUNY Cortland faculty members were recently appointed to the rank of Distinguished Faculty by the SUNY Board of Trustees.
Sharon R. Steadman, a member of the Sociology and Anthropology Department, was elevated to the rank of Distinguished Professor. This title is conferred upon individuals who have achieved national or international prominence within their chosen field and serve as role models for students and other faculty.
Peter K. Ducey of the Biological Sciences Department has been named a Distinguished Teaching Professor. This title is given to those who have demonstrated consistent superior mastery of teaching, service to students and commitment to ongoing intellectual growth and scholarship.
“The SUNY faculty members receiving these distinguished ranks have achieved immeasurable success within their fields and on their respective campuses,” said SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson. “These individuals have set the bar for their peers, and work closely with students to help them find their calling inside and outside of the classroom. It is their excellence that drives SUNY forward.”
“We are proud to honor SUNY faculty for their accomplishments as researchers, teachers, mentors, who are dedicated to their work and making a positive impact on campus,” said SUNY Chairman H. Carl McCall. “In order to receive distinguished ranks, appointees must possess the ability to lead and innovate, as well as meet the rigorous standards of our distinguished ranks. Congratulations to all honorees, who embody the spirit and values of SUNY’s core values.”
Steadman is a global authority on the Chalcolithic to Byzantine archaeological periods of the Turkish Anatolian plateau. She has supervised 14 excavations in locations such as Armenia, Cyprus, Israel and Jordan and has been the field operations director for excavations at Cadir Höyük in Turkey for the past two decades. Steadman is the author of countless articles and she was written two well-cited books, The Archaeology of Architecture and the Human Use of Space and The Archaeology of Religion. She is the co-author of Ancient Complex Societies. She edits the Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia and has co-edited four essay collections.
Her work has drawn acclaim for placing archaeological data alongside models of human behavior to create testable hypothesis of prehistoric phenomenon. Steadman has received grants from the National Science Foundation. She reviews grants for the National Geographic Society and also reviews book manuscripts and articles for 16 archeological journals.
A member of the editorial and advisory board of Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archeology and Heritage Studies, Steadman also serves the Committee on Archaeological Policy and the American Schools of Oriental Research.
She becomes the eighth SUNY Cortland faculty member to achieve the Distinguished Professor rank.
Ducey has devoted over two decades to the mastery of teaching and learning. He is a faculty mentor and introduces majors and non-majors to professional undergraduate and graduate research. Ducey maintains mentorships with former students, many of whom go on to become physicians and teachers themselves and attest to the positive impact he has made on their lives.
A member of the SUNY Master Teacher Advisory Board for Central New York, Ducey shares his experience with K-12 teachers and administrators from across the region. He is frequently sought after as a model education and mentor with colleagues requesting him to attend their classes and offer suggestions.
Ducey has a strong record of scholarship, which is reflected in his teaching. His students are authors or co-authors in more than 25 of his publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles and abstracts of conference proceedings. Ducey serves on the editorial board for Northeast Naturalist and has worked as a reviewer for the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
He is a recipient of the 2004 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in teaching and the 2006 SUNY Chancellor’s/Research Foundation Recognition for Exemplary Contributions to Research in Scholarship. Ducey received the Excellence of the Use of Research in Teaching award from SUNY Cortland in 2002 and was recognized with an Outstanding Achievement in Mentoring Undergraduate Research award in 2016 and an Excellence in Academic Advisement Award in 2017.
He becomes the 20th SUNY Cortland faculty member to achieve the Distinguished Teaching Professor rank.