Walker Earns SU's 2015 Distinguished Faculty Award
SALISBURY, MD---Dr. Elsie Walker has been described as “an enlightened mind, a dedicated professional and a shining light in every arena she enters.”
The cinema studies professor has received Salisbury University’s 2015 Distinguished Faculty Award, honoring exemplary teaching, professional development and service.
“She has a real presence in the classroom, an infectious enthusiasm and a seriousness that I have seen inspire students, time and time again,” said Dr. Dave Johnson, an English Department colleague.
Former students concur: “I feel that I not only have a better understanding of film and applicable theories, but a better understanding of life’s critical issues,” one said.
Alumnus Travis Carr ’10, senior assistant editor at Leopard USA in New York City, added, “Through Dr. Walker not only did I learn lifetime lessons for my writing, critical thinking and creative pursuits, I was also introduced to some of my favorite films.”
In the past five years, Walker has presented six international conference papers, produced three peer-reviewed publications, guest-edited a special pedagogical issue of the journal Music and the Moving Image (University of Illinois Press), and published the book Understanding Sound Tracks Through Film Theory with Oxford University Press. She also has a second book, Hearing the Cinema of Michael Haneke, under contract with Oxford University Press.
“Having one’s book published by one of the top academic presses in the world is an accomplishment that, even at leading research universities, sets scholars apart,” said Dr. Maarten Pereboom, dean of SU’s Charles R. and Martha N. Fulton School of Liberal Arts. “For a faculty member at a regional comprehensive university, this is an even rarer accomplishment, given the differences in our mission.”
In addition to her scholarship and teaching, Walker serves as co-editor of SU’s Literature/Film Quarterly, a 40-plus-year-old journal with subscriptions in over 30 countries.
She chairs the English Majors Recruitment Committee, advises the English Honors Society and served as a mentor for SU’s first student film festival. She also chairs the first-ever SU chapter of the University System of Maryland Women’s Forum.
Walker earned her Ph.D. in English from the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom and master’s degree from the University of Auckland in New Zealand before joining SU’s faculty in 2003.
“Dr. Walker’s list of accomplishments makes the case convincingly, but she is also, finally, a thoughtful and lovely person who contributes tangibly and intangibly to a special sense of community, academic and otherwise, that is unique here at Salisbury,” Pereboom said.
Walker’s name will be added to an honor roll listing all recipients since the award was established in 1987. For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU website at www.salisbury.edu.