Tapan Parikh, associate professor in the Department of Information Science at Cornell Tech, and Julie Nucci, adjunct professor of Materials Science and Engineering and director of education and outreach for the Platform for the Accelerated Realization, Analysis, and Discovery of Interface Materials, were recognized for their dedication to service learning.
Both have had a significant impact on undergraduate, graduate and professional education by engaging their students in challenging service-learning programs. Both received a $5,000 award to enable them to further develop their service-learning courses.
“It’s a privilege to join this community of Cornell faculty that are focused on service and engagement,” Parikh said. “I am looking forward to using the award for Remaking the City course, where it will support teams of graduate student collaborating with local non-profits and civic organizations.”
Remaking the City is a workshop-based service learning coursethat engages students in participatory design projects using technology to reimagine community services and public infrastructure in urban contexts. Masters students at Cornell Tech are paired with community-based organizations to understand and address their technology needs and to collectively design solutions to challenges facing the city and its inhabitants.
Barbara Kaplan ’59, her husband, Leslie Kaplan, son Douglas Kaplan ’88 and daughter Emily Kaplan ’91 established the Kaplan Family Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Service-Learning Award in 2002 to recognize and support greater involvement in civic engagement at Cornell. The fellowship program is coordinated through the Public Service Center.Two Cornell faculty members were awarded the 2018 Kaplan Family Distinguished Faculty Fellowship on April 24.