2024 José A. Gómez CLASS Faculty Excellence Award

Jeremy Hahn
Lecturer, Department of Theatre and New Dance

Hahn is an award-winning choreographer and performer creating works of contemporary dance theatre, site-specific interactive performance, and performance art. Hahn has been with Cal Poly Pomona since 2014 and has made a tremendous impact on students as an instructor and mentor as he guides students in developing original choreography pieces for public performance, as well as making an impact on his colleagues.

TND Professor Sarah Krainin stated, “Jeremy Hahn teaches classes across the Department and GE curricula, including lower and upper division courses; courses in a variety of components including lecture, lab, and activity courses; and one asynchronous lecture course. His commitment to expanding students’ knowledge of and capacity to creatively express themselves through dance transcends these variables: Enhancing theoretical and experimental approaches for developing and cultivating critical thinkers and creative problem solvers, promoting discovery through research, scholarly, and creative activities, ensuring transparency, equity, empathy, integrity, and diversity and lastly, working towards a just, humane, and inclusive world.”

Jeremy Hahn expressed his gratitude to Dr. Gómez, and what this award means to him, “Dear Dr. Gómez, I express my sincere gratitude for your generous support of faculty excellence at Cal Poly Pomona. Being recognized as part of the 2024 cohort of awardees is a great honor. This award affirms my ongoing efforts to support students thriving at CPP while navigating the challenges of a rigorous Ph.D. program and pursuing a professional artistic career. This recognition is an affirmation that contributes to elevating the presence of dance at CPP, emphasizing the importance of the arts within this polytechnic university. Thank you once again for recognizing the value of faculty excellence and providing a platform allowing teachers to carry out our work as a praxis of care.”

Alex Madva
Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy

Dr. Madva is an established and prolific scholar, who serves as the Director of the California Center for Ethics and Policy (CCEP) and his Directorship serves students at all levels – department, college, and university – and serves the community through the podcasts created by those students. Since his arrival at Cal Poly Pomona, he has made a favorable imprint throughout the department.

His colleague, Dr. Brian Kim, shared a few words on Dr. Madva’s impact, “Dr. Madva is a model for aspiring scholars and teachers here in CLASS.  He has gone above and beyond embodying CLASS values, mission, and vision. Dr. Madva is a prolific internationally recognized scholar and public intellectual. Dr. Madva is one of our most beloved instructors.  He treats both his students and colleagues with respect and empathy.  He is a leader advocating for equity and diversity in our department.  This is evident in the role he has played in our recent ethnic studies cluster hire as well as the department’s equity statement.  He has been intimately involved in student advising and a tireless research advisor.  He often advises presentations at CPP’s RSCA conference, where his students have been quite successful. I can’t image a more deserving person for the Gómez Faculty Excellence Award.”

When Dr. Madva was asked what this award means to him he stated, “This award is a tremendous and humbling honor. There’s a special kind of joy in being recognized by your colleagues, all the more so given how much pathbreaking work our college is doing across the humanities, arts, and social sciences. The collegiality and support I’ve drawn from faculty, staff, and students in the Philosophy Department and throughout the college has kept me going. I’m already thinking about who I should nominate next year to pay my gratitude forward. The only problem is that I have too many outstanding peers to choose from! I also had the tremendous pleasure, a mere days after learning of this award, of meeting Dr. Gómez in person in a somewhat chance encounter at Pasadena City College. His unabashed commitment to supporting learners and educators, which is embodied in this award, is inspiring.”

Kate Ozment
Associate Professor, English and Modern Languages

Dr. Ozment is a leader in campus collaborations who brings her digital humanities expertise and innovative mindset to the Maker Studio and our digital humanities community. Dr. Ozment has positively influenced students in and outside of the classroom. As the English Education Coordinator, she is a passionate student advocate and mentor. Dr. Ozment’s impact in her department has been undeniable since she joined Cal Poly Pomona in 2018.

Department Chair, Dr. Kent Dickson spoke highly of her as he said “Dr. Kate Ozment represents the best of our professoriate. She is a world-class scholar in the area of feminist critical bibliography, and a specialist in digital humanities. The scholarly projects in which she is involved imply a rethinking and reframing the field of British 18^th-century literary studies. She is using the tools of digital humanities and critical bibliography to make previously invisible texts visible and pay more attention to the economic and materialist underpinnings of book history and literary history. She aims to dramatically expand the field to include work by excluded groups, particularly women. Administratively, she has made amazing contributions to the department and university as an Assistant and first-year Associate Professor (the kind of leadership that most people only contribute when they are at a higher level of seniority). These include service on a senate committee, coordinating one of the English major options, helping found and develop the Maker Studio, and helping hire new faculty colleagues as the chair of a search committee. She has also been a CFA activist, playing a large role in our strike preparation and organizing. As one of the department’s star instructors, she inspires and energizes students by her own example of professionalism and competence, but also because she is an approachable human being who cares deeply about them. She tends to teach texts (or teach them in a way) that speak to the issues of our day.” Her colleague, Dr. Liam Corley added, “In every category covered by CLASS ideals and values, Kate excels. She has made English and Modern Languages a more innovative, just, and effective department.Students flock to Dr. Ozment’s classes and office because she is a relentless advocate for their intellectual development, mental health, and personal success.”

Gabriele Plickert
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology

Dr. Plickert’s academic journey has been characterized by a profound commitment to both her students and her field of expertise, Sociology and Criminology. Dr. Plickert fulfills an essential leadership role in her department as advisor of Alpha Kappa Delta (national honors society for sociology) and advisor for the Criminology major. Dr. Plickert is well decorated with countless accolades and publications throughout her career. Since joining Cal Poly Pomona in 2016, Dr. Plickert has made lasting impressions and relationships with both students and colleagues where she has embodied the core values of CLASS.

Department Chair, Dr. Anjana Narayan said, “Under Dr. Plickert's leadership, the Criminology major, launched in Fall 2018, has experienced remarkable growth. She has introduced cutting edge courses like Crime Analysis, bolstered undergraduate research engagement, forged connections with local schools to cultivate a pipeline for our majors, and partnered with various community-based organizations in Pomona to enrich research and internship prospects for our students.  She is an exemplary mentor who genuinely cares about the students she works with. Moreover, Dr. Plickert's commitment to exposing students to global comparative perspectives is exemplary. She designed and launched a groundbreaking senior seminar on comparative juvenile justice, providing students with invaluable insights into international practices. Additionally, she facilitated student participation in National conferences outside of California, orchestrating meetings with esteemed international and national scholars, thus broadening students' understanding of their field on a global scale.”

Dr. Plickert’s is honored to receive the award, “Receiving the Jose Gomez Faculty Excellence Award has been a big surprise. First and foremost, I want to thank the students I have met over the years. Their constructive feedback about what works or sometimes does not work in the classroom and beyond has been instrumental in shaping my courses and journey and contributing to my growth as a teacher, mentor, and researcher at Cal Poly Pomona. Thanks to the students, I am invested in striving for academic and professional advancement and being an engaging, innovative, and equitable educator. This award reinforces my continued commitment to excel as an educator. I also want to thank my colleagues, who promote and support diverse and innovative teaching, mentoring, and student-faculty collaborations. This award is a collective effort, and I am proud to accept this award on behalf of my respected colleagues.”