Shigley, Sohl Selected as 2015 Brady Presidential Distinguished Professors

OGDEN, Utah – An English professor who has a knack for combining writing and literature with the health-care field and a physics professor who has performed heroic rescues in the field are Weber State University’s 2015 Brady Presidential Distinguished professors.

Sally Bishop Shigley, from WSU’s Department of English, and John Sohl, from the Department of Physics, will receive their awards May 1 during WSU’s 145th commencement ceremony.

“These two educators exemplify what the Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor Program is all about: excellence on campus and in the community,” said WSU President Charles A. Wight. “Time and again, Dr. Shigley and Dr. Sohl have dedicated themselves to this institution and the neighborhoods that surround it. I thank them sincerely.”

Sally Bishop Shigley
 
Pedagogical pioneer and English professor Sally Bishop Shigley has more than 20 years of experience at Weber State University.
 
Shigley was the first WSU English professor to teach a writing class exclusively online, an experience that former WSU President Paul Thompson asked her to recount before the Utah Legislature. She is developing a general education class in medicine and literature directed at pre-health professionals and has developed a master’s-level poetry course and a hybrid course designed to enable master’s-level nursing students to become better writers.
 
Shigley has also worked with WSU psychology and neuroscience professor Lauren Fowler in exploring the effects of reading literature on empathy and has examined topics such as infertility and disability through her scholarly writing. 
 
In addition to making an impact on her campus, Shigley has reached out to her community. She has used two grants from the Alan E. and Jeanne N. Hall Endowment to form Wildcats Learning Together, a program in which WSU students volunteer to help at-risk students at Wasatch Elementary perform at grade level. She also has started Wildcats Learning Together Español, in which Spanish-speaking WSU students and Spanish-speaking at-risk students tutor English-only elementary students in learning Spanish.
 
John Sohl
 
John Sohl, physics professor and commander of Weber County Search and Rescue’s Mountain Rescue Team, recently celebrated 25 years of service to Weber State University.
 
An experimental physicist with a deep curiosity about the world and its machinations, Sohl has instilled that same passion in students across the university. He mentors undergraduate researchers from the College of Science and the College of Applied Science & Technology in the High Altitude Reconnaissance Balloon for Outreach and Research (HARBOR) program. The award-winning program, partially funded by the Browning Foundation and the Utah Division of Air Quality, uses a high-altitude weather balloon to record scientific measurements and provide learning experiences for future scientists, physicists and engineers.
 
Sohl has lent his scientific and outdoors expertise to the community by serving as the commander of the Weber County Search and Rescue’s Mountain Rescue Team and is a scientific adviser for the Weber County Sheriff’s Office and Mountain Rescue Association. Sohl was awarded the Distinguished Individual Service Award from the Mountain Rescue Association for leading the rescue of two men in a downed aircraft in Utah’s Monte Cristo mountains in 1999.
 
In 2002, he was selected to be a torchbearer for Salt Lake City’s Winter Olympics.
 
The WSU Board of Trustees selected the recipients, who each will receive a cash prize of $16,000. The funds, paid in $4,000 increments over four years, may be used to further professional academic goals. The honorees also will retain the Presidential Distinguished Professor title throughout their tenure with the university, and, upon retirement from WSU, “emeritus” will be added to the end of the title. The professors also will be featured on the Honor Wall for Presidential Distinguished Professors, which is located on the second floor of the Stewart Library in the west atrium.

The award was established in 2006 as a way to recognize WSU faculty members who demonstrate excellence in teaching, scholarship, research and community service. A generous gift from Rodney and Carolyn Brady provides funding for the program. Rodney Brady served as president of Weber State from 1978-85.

Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.

For high-resolution photos, please visit the following links:

https://wsuucomm.smugmug.com/Press-Release-Photos/2015-photos/April-2015/i-htWQ3gN/0/X2/SallyShigley_0774-X2.jpg

https://wsuucomm.smugmug.com/Press-Release-Photos/2015-photos/April-2015/i-KFCh4zx/0/X2/JohnSohl_0762-X2.jpg



 

Contact:
Allison Barlow Hess, director of Public Relations
801-626-7948 • ahess@weber.edu
Author:
Shane Farver, executive communication coordinator
801-626-7439 • shanefarver@weber.edu