Mentoring: ‘A Practice Framed By Love’

At the USC-Mellon Awards for Excellence in Mentoring, USC College was recognized with the award for School-Wide Mentoring Program. From left, Hilary Schor, College dean of undergraduate programs; David Román, College director of faculty development; Martin Levine, vice provost for faculty affairs; and Beth Meyerowitz, professor of psychology and preventive medicine. Photos by Brian Morri

As a doctoral student in physics at USC College, Amy Cassidy noticed there are few women graduates in her field. So she and classmate Katie Mussack found a way to mentor young women considering careers in physics.

The pair organized USC’s first Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics. Now in its second year, the conference involves lectures, lab tours, career panels and networking with women in the sciences.

This week, Cassidy was among many honored for their outstanding efforts in inspiring others at the third Annual USC-Mellon Awards for Excellence in Mentoring.

“I have chosen to be a mentor because I know that there are young women out there who are talented and smart and capable scientists, but who may not pursue that path only because they lack the resources and encouragement,” she said.

The awards are supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. They are administered by the USC Center for Excellence in Teaching (CET) and honor USC graduate students, professors and administrators who have created an academic environment in which faculty-to-student, faculty-to-faculty and student-to-student mentoring has thrived.

Above, doctoral student Amy Cassidy was honored for mentoring undergraduate women interested in physics careers. Below, Bruce Zuckerman, professor of religion and linguistics, won the 2007 Innovations in Mentoring Award.

The School-Wide Mentoring Program Award, given this year for the first time, honors excellence in supporting and maintaining a culture of mentoring.

Accepting on behalf of the College was Hilary Schor, dean of undergraduate programs.

Also accepting the award were Beth Meyerowitz, professor of psychology and preventive medicine, and David Román, director of faculty development and professor of English and American studies and ethnicity.

Román was also among those who won in the category for “faculty mentoring undergraduate students.”

“Mentoring is a practice framed by love,” Román said. “Without the love I have for my own work and the love I have for the entire enterprise of knowledge production and dissemination, it would be virtually impossible to generate any enthusiasm to participate in the shared project of learning.”

The 2007 Innovations in Mentoring Award went to Bruce Zuckerman, professor of religion at the College, in honor of his forward-looking and creative mentoring of faculty and undergraduate students at USC College and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Zuckerman and his students are collaborating on an ancient cylinder seal project with students and professors at Illinois.

“Being a religion professor, I can say I was there at the creation,” Zuckerman told the crowd. “I was there when the Mellon Foundation asked, ‘What can we do to help improve education at USC?’ We said they could help by fostering mentoring, recognizing mentoring and planting the Mellon name on it. Now the Mellon Foundation looks to us as a mentoring leader.”