News Highlights

Suzanne Bunkers, David Dickau, James Robertson are Distinguished Faculty Scholars

Will hold title for duration of their tenure

Three faculty members -- Suzanne Bunkers, David Dickau and James Robertson -- recently were honored as newly appointed Distinguished Faculty Scholars.

2008-05-20
Minnesota State University, Mankato Media Relations Office news release [5/20/2008]

Three faculty members recently were honored as newly appointed Distinguished Faculty Scholars.

Suzanne Bunkers, David Dickau and James Robertson will hold the title of Distinguished Faculty Scholar for the duration of their tenure at Minnesota State Mankato. The new award honors faculty members who have distinguished themselves as outstanding scholars, and whose scholarship has earned national or international recognition.

Award recipients must be tenured professors with at least eight years of service at Minnesota State Mankato. They must have accumulated a substantial body of scholarly work, and they must exemplify the highest standards of scholarship. This year’s recipients were selected by the Faculty Research Committee from among nine nominees, and were lauded at a luncheon hosted by President Richard Davenport.

Bunkers, an English faculty member since 1980, has taught English, humanities, honors and women’s studies courses at Minnesota State Mankato. An active scholar, she has received many university grants as well as others from such organizations as the Minnesota Historical Society, the Jerome Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities to research women’s studies, cultural diversity, literature and other topics. She has served as a visiting professor and writer-in-residence and has published numerous book-length works, articles, essays and book chapters.

She received a Ph.D. in American literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s in English literature from Iowa State University, where she completed her undergraduate work.

“My journey as a scholar began 35 years ago when, as a graduate student, I was privileged to work with professors who taught, published and valued scholarship and creative work, and encouraged me to present at conferences and publish,” Bunkers said. “As the first female Ph.D. hired by the English Department in many years, I endeavored to set a positive example as a teaching scholar.”

Dickau, a Music faculty member since 1991, teaches choral music, conducting and composition at Minnesota State Mankato and has led community and church choirs. Each year he composes numerous commissioned pieces that are widely performed throughout the United States, and are sought by the nation’s top music publishers.

He has led the Minnesota State Mankato concert choir on regional and international tours, and is in his eighth season as music director of Magnum Chorum, the St. Olaf College alumni choir based in St. Paul. Magnum Chorum has been featured on National Public Radio’s syndicated program “The First Art.”
Dickau holds advanced degrees in choral music from Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., and the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

“Perhaps the most fulfilling and important aspect of my professional career has been musical composition, specifically composition for choral ensembles,” Dickau said. “Composing for choirs has given me the opportunity to have a national voice in my field.”

Robertson, a Sociology & Corrections faculty member since 1980, has authored 50 articles on prisoners’ rights. He has been interviewed by the Los Angles Times, National Public Radio and other national media on prison rape and other aspects of imprisonment. He is editor-in-chief of the Criminal Law Bulletin, a scholarly journal published by Thomson West, and is a contributing editor of Criminal Justice Review.

He earned law degrees from Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., and Oxford University, and completed his undergraduate work at the University of Washington.

“My initial assignment included teaching a course on correctional law, a very new field given that inmates effectively lacked any rights until the 1960s,” Robertson said. “No such course had existed in my higher education. In short order, I found the subject area that would direct my scholarship for three decades.”

Email this article | Permanent link | Topstories news | Topstories news archives