WSU Honors and Arts and Sciences Colleges Announce Quock and Johnson as First Honors College Distinguished Professors
PULLMAN, Wash. — The Washington State University Honors College and College of Arts and Sciences have named Raymond Quock, professor of pharmaceutical sciences, and Monica Johnson, professor of sociology, to hold the first WSU Honors College Distinguished Professorships.
Selected for their demonstrated excellence in teaching, research, and service, Quock and Johnson will hold these professorships for two years says Honors Dean M. Grant Norton. Both have taught for the Honors College in the past.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for our students to study with exemplary educators and researchers in their respective fields,” says Norton. “We always strive to offer the best instruction possible for our courses, but the new distinguished professorship program is one extra step toward ensuring Honors College students have the best possible learning experiences.”
Arts and Sciences Dean Daryll B. DeWald says, “Dean Norton’s idea for the professorships really resonates with us. Our two colleges share many high-achieving undergraduates. It makes great sense that we collaborate to focus the time and skills of distinguished professors from the science side and from the humanities side into the Honors College environment in a full-time, dedicated manner.”
Both Honors and Arts and Sciences will provide up to $10,000 each for faculty enrichment and scholarships given to students working with Johnson and Quock on mentored research or creative activities. The professors will be in Honors as of August 2014, when both start their 15th year on faculty at WSU.
Johnson studies work, family, and education across the life course, focusing on achievement in adolescence and the transition to adulthood through the lenses of financial support, educational ambitions, and social resources. As an Honors Distinguished Professor she will teach Honors 270, Research in Social Sciences, and Honors 370, Global Issues in Social Science.
She earned her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Minnesota and her B.S. in sociology from Montana State University, where she also earned highest distinction from its University Honors Program.
Quock, who was department chair of pharmaceutical sciences from 1999 to 2012, is on faculty in that department as well as those of psychology and neuroscience. The Honors professorship is Quock’s second; he held the first Allen I. White Professorship in Pharmacy from 2007 to 2012. In Honors, he will teach Honors 290, Science as a Way of Knowing, and Honors 390, Global Issues in Science.
His research is on drugs that affect brain function and behavior in relation to relief of pain and anxiety; he currently researches gases used in medicine (such as nitrous oxide, or laughing gas). His B.S. in biology is from the University of San Francisco and his Ph.D. in pharmacology is from the University of Washington. He taught at universities and pharmacy, medical, and dental schools in the Midwest and West prior to joining WSU, where he has received numerous teaching awards and was appointed to the WSU Teaching Academy in 2004.
Media: M. Grant Norton, Dean, WSU Honors College, 509-335-4505
Jared Brickman, Communications Assistant, WSU Honors College, 509-335-8070, uchccommmar.4@wsu.edu