Four member of the Elon community were recognized in May 2023 with the university’s premier annual awards recognizing faculty and staff excellence in teaching, scholarship, civic engagement and mentoring.

Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching
Professor Kirstin Ringelberg

Professor Kirstin Ringelberg was named the 51st recipient of an award established by Elon University President Emeritus J. Earl Danieley ’46 and his wife, Verona Daniels Danieley, in honor of their parents.

Ringelberg joined Elon in 2003 and is always evolving and using new approaches of grading and assessment, combining best practices in anti-racist pedagogy with approaches to ungrading, contract grading and metacognitive reflection writing. They have now added the Daniels-Danieley Award to a plethora of recognitions such as the Elon College Excellence in Teaching Award in 2008, the Barbara H. Carlton Award for Outstanding Advisor of the Year from SGA in 2013, and the Elon LGBTQIA Community Enrichment Award twice in 2012 and 2022.

Ringelberg’s effective teaching has also made an impact on students outside of the classroom as they have mentored 29 independent research projects, and many mentees have gone on to stake a claim in many impressive graduate programs worldwide and make a name for themselves in the field.

Ringelberg’s intentional support of students, especially in Black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC), first-generation and LGBTQIA communities, draws from their own experience of not fitting the status quo. As the founding director of what is now Elon’s Gender and LGBTQIA Center, an organizer of the first Lavender Graduation ceremony and one who has stood alongside students in the Black Lives Matter movement, “students know that Professor Ringelberg is genuinely on their side,” a group of colleagues wrote in a nomination letter supporting Ringelberg for the award.

Distinguished Scholar Award
Professor of Exercise Science Caroline Ketcham

Professor Caroline Ketcham was named the 24th recipient of the Distinguished Scholar Award, which recognizes a faculty member whose research has earned peer commendation and respect and who has made significant contributions to his or her field of study.

Since joining the faculty in 2007, Ketcham has authored more than 65 peer-reviewed publications and co-edited two collections in disciplinary and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning spaces. At Elon, Ketcham received the Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship from the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education in 2010 and the Elon College Outstanding Service Award in 2014. In 2017, she was selected for the Ward Family Excellence in Mentoring Award and in 2021 was selected to serve as a Center for Engaged Learning Scholar for a two-year term.

A prolific and preeminent scholar in the field of exercise science, she has a track record of scholarship and research that has contributed to deeper conversations about holistic approaches to learning and development centered on equity, inclusion and well-being. During her 25-year career, Ketcham has developed broad and deep expertise in the area of motor control, with a particular focus on using features of the control and coordination of movement to understand neural function.

Ketcham is co-director and co-creator of the Elon BrainCARE Research Institute, which was founded in 2014 to bind together a line of research that examines the impact of concussions from a variety of perspectives and with consideration of a multitude of variables. With co-director Professor Eric Hall, she has worked to expand the scope of the institute to support positive mental health frameworks for students and student-athletes, with the goal of supporting colleagues who are in turn serving these populations.

Periclean Award for Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility
Assistant Professor of Biology Jessica Merricks

Assistant Professor Jessica Merricks was named the 21st recipient of the Periclean Award for Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility, which is given each year to a member of Elon’s faculty or staff whose community service exemplifies the ideals of Project Pericles. With the mission of raising the level of civic engagement and social responsibility of the entire campus community, Project Pericles is a major force behind Elon’s reputation as a national model of engaged learning.

Merricks arrived at Elon in 2018 and has led the revision of the non-majors biology curriculum to create a more engaging, meaningful and inclusive course experience. She led the development of an integrated lab-lecture course that now serves as a model for the revision of the Introduction to Environmental Science lab-lecture sequence.

As a resident of Pittsboro, North Carolina, Merricks discovered that her community’s drinking water was contaminated after an ambiguous letter from the City of Pittsboro was included with a water bill in 2019. Teaming with another Pittsboro resident, Merricks co-founded Clean Haw River, an advocacy group committed to educating the public about the risks of drinking contaminated water. Clean Haw River also seeks to “act as the liaison between the scientific community and water users; demand accountability from local, state and federal agencies; and advocate for local, state and federal drinking water policies and regulations.”

Merricks also plays a significant role in the $142,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to support a pathway for students to transfer from the Early College Program at Alamance Community College to Elon to pursue bachelor’s degrees in biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, environmental studies, mathematics or physics.

Steven and Patricia House Excellence in Mentoring Award
Director of International Student Services Kristen Aquilino

Director of International Student Services Kristen Aquilino is the fourth recipient of the Steven and Patricia House Excellence in Mentoring Award. The award is supported by a gift from Executive Vice President Steven House and his wife, Patricia, to celebrate excellence in student mentoring, one of the markers of quality that has fueled Elon’s reputation as the national leader in engaged, experiential learning.

Aquilino embodies Elon University’s mission of transformation of the mind, body and spirit of students. Through rich intellectual exchange, focusing on the common good and respect for differences and personal integrity, Aquilino “lives these values and …they are integral to her mentorship practice,” a colleague wrote nominating Aquilino for the House Excellence in Mentoring Award.

Aquilino arrived at Elon in 2014 and has made her presence felt throughout campus as she’s helped create courses in partnership with colleagues in the Student Professional Development Center. From guiding students in extreme adventure-based settings such as climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, to a walk and talk around Lake Mary Nell and everything in between, Aquilino has steadily crafted opportunities in both classroom and social-cultural settings to engage in mentorship.

An alumnus closely involved with an organization of which Aquilino was an advisor said she was a constant source of wisdom and optimism as he navigated his college experience. Inspired by her to pursue a career relating to intercultural communication, immigrant advocacy and higher education, the student said Aquilino has been “transformative” for his professional ambitions.