Champlain College Honors Staff and Faculty

Elaine Young Award

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- President Donald J. Laackman and the Champlain College Board of Trustees are pleased to announce the 2015 recipients of the Edward Phelps Lyman Professorship Award, the Francine Page Excellence in Teaching Award and the Elizabeth A. Durick Staff Service Award.

The Edward Phelps Lyman Professorship is awarded to a senior faculty member of the College community who has shown dedication to students and Champlain College through a record of service and excellence in teaching and advising and through work on faculty and College committees.

This year, the recipient is Professor Elaine Young of Brookfield, Vt. (shown with President Donald. J. Laackman and Provost Laurie Quinn).  "She exemplifies dedication to students and excellence in teaching and advising, as well as community service." said Provost Laurie Quinn.. "She serves as a great role model to faculty including faculty who teach online and faculty completing their Ph.D.'s. She takes initiative with both students and colleagues to ask, ‘What's next?' And she generously shares her expertise with the Burlington and greater community."

Young has taught at Champlain since 2000, currently teaching courses in Digital Marketing, Digital Analytics and Analysis, Advanced Digital Marketing, Community Management and the Marketing Capstone. She has also taught Marketing in Champlain's MBA Program.

Young has a Ph.D. in Organizational Management from Capella University, where her dissertation research examined technology use and adoption of college students. She also holds a M.S. in Internet Strategy Management from Marlboro College, a B.S. in Communication and Public Relations from SUNY Brockport and an A.S. in Communication from Genesee Community College. 

In receiving the annual award, Young was cited for her commitment to students, colleagues and community and her work to coordinate the Stiller School of Business School's Sarah Ramsey year-end scholarship award for an outstanding Marketing Major.  "She is an engaged educator and positive role model to students and faculty, possesses an amazing work ethic, leadership and is the consummate team member," Quinn added.

Marc NadelThe Francine Page Excellence in Teaching Award bears the name of an adjunct faculty member of the College community who has shown dedication to students and to the mission of Champlain College through a demonstration of excellence in teaching. Further, a person who has demonstrated a commitment to striving for excellence both in content expertise and pedagogically sound teaching and learning practices.

The 2015 Francine Page Excellence in Teaching Award was presented to adjunct faculty member Marc Nadel in the Division of Communication and Creative Media. (He is shown with Provost Laurie Quinn  and President Donald. J. Laackman)

"He is an integral part of the Creative Media, Game Art & Animation program development and regularly participates in faculty meetings and year end collaborative. All of which led many to assume that he was a full-time faculty. "We are lucky to have this individual as part of our Champlain community and students benefit greatly from his gifts and extensive background as a professional artist and illustrator," said Provost Quinn.

The Elizabeth A. Durick Staff Service Award was established in 1996 and is intended to recognize a member of the staff who has had a positive impact on the College community. This annual award is named in honor of the late Elizabeth Durick, who was an exemplary staff member and who also served on the College's Board of Trustees.

The 2014 recipient of the Durick Staff Service Award is Learning Assessment Director Ellen Zeman. Over the years, Zeman has been involved in a variety of campus-wide initiatives and priorities, from helping to plan Staff Professional Development Day to assisting with the early design for Dare U. Her colleagues described Zeman as professional, dedicated, flexible and helpful. She is respected by her faculty and staff colleagues alike and is committed to helping Champlain provide the best educational experience for our students.

Champlain College also recognized faculty and staff for years of service and retirement:

  • 5 Years: Fritz Burkhardt, Wei Kian Chen, Susannah Eriksson, Valerie Esposito, Dave Gerns, Brian R. Hall, Kristen Hallock, Skip Harris, Jonathan Hébert, Michael Kelly, Ame Lambert, Dean Lawson, Luke Lewis, Denise Myers, Erik Oliver, JoAnn Patel, Tami Patnode, Kate Pellegrini, John Pelletier, Darrin Pillsbury, Almir Salkic, Mary Beth Sykas, Baine Trombley and Michael Zemany. 

  • 10 Years: Scott H. Baker, Robert Bolin, Amanda Crispel, Melissa Hersh, Lyle King, Lisa Mazzariello, Toni-Lee Sangastiano and Elizabeth Scott.

  • 15 Years: Kevin Andrews, Bridget Baldwin, Linda Barrows, Julia Caminiti, Don Haggerty, Christine Hutchins, Robert Mayer, Kathy Newton Whiting, Susan Paquette, Eric Ronis, Eric Sample, and Gary Scudder.

  • 20 Years: Robin Abramson and Katie Hawley, 

  • 25 Years: Pat Boera and Sue Chamberlain

  • 30 Years: David Mona. 

  • 35 Years: Geebo Church and Carol Moran Brown. 

  • Retirements: Kathy Lynn, Felicia Messuri, Carl Riden, Robert Selby, Bernadette Wagner, Jay McKee, Paula Olsen, Bernie Dee, Ashley Mikell and Elaine Strunk.


Founded in 1878, Champlain College is a small, not-for-profit, private college in Burlington, Vermont, with additional campuses in Montreal, Canada, and Dublin, Ireland. Champlain offers a traditional undergraduate experience from its beautiful campus overlooking Lake Champlain and over 90 residential undergraduate and online undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificates. Champlain's distinctive career-driven approach to higher education embodies the notion that true learning occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain College is included in the Princeton Review's The Best 384 Colleges: 2019 Edition. For the fourth year in a row, Champlain was named a "Most Innovative School" in the North by U.S. News & World Report's 2019 "America's Best Colleges,” and a “Best Value School” and is ranked in the top 100 “Regional Universities of the North” and in the top 25 for “Best Undergraduate Teaching.” Champlain is also featured in the Fiske Guide to Colleges for 2019 as one of the "best and most interesting schools" in the United States, Canada and Great Britain and is a 2019 College of Distinction. For more information, visit champlain.edu.