Bodnar, Viola honored for faculty excellence

By Jayne Spencer

Bodnar

Viola was the recipient of the annual Tracy M. Sonneborn Award, initiated in 1985 by the Office of the Dean of Faculties in Bloomington to honor a faculty member who achieves special distinction as a teacher and as a scholar or artist. He presented the Sonneborn Lecture, titled “All Explosions Great and Small” which explored the nature of explosion-like phenomena such as volcanos, supernovae and the Big Bang Dec. 5 at Wittenberger Auditorium.

Viola came to IU in 1980 and has established enduring benchmarks in nuclear chemistry, astrophysics and nucleosynthesis, transcending the boundaries of the traditional classroom to bring the excitement of research to introductory and advanced students alike.

Bodnar received the Chancellors’ Professor title for his work in shaping two major fields of American history—immigration and nationalism—and consistently challenging students to achieve excellence through a combination of accessibility and intellectual rigor. He is the author of The Transplanted (1985) and Remaking America: Public Memory, Commemoration and Patriotism in the Twentieth Century (1992), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

Editor’s note: Viola’s lecture will be audiostreamed later this month at http://broadcast.iu.edu/