Faculty Mentor Award Winners
Provost’s Award for an Exemplary Director of Graduate Studies (DGS)
May 2024
Frank Kelderman, Ph.D.
Department of English
The Provost’s Award for an Exemplary Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) honors a full-time faculty member assigned with advising graduate students about program requirements, career prospects, funding possibilities, and other matters pertinent to graduate education; this award honors exemplary work done by directors of graduate studies as advisors and administrators. Such work includes mastery of the program’s disciplinary and professional regulations, advocacy on behalf of students, development of curricular innovations designed to improve retention and degree completion, as well as enhancement of student academic and professional development initiatives, and commitment to strategic advising. Dr. Frank Kelderman from the Department of English is this year’s winner of the Provost’s Award for an Exemplary DGS.
Frank Kelderman is Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of English. He received his M.A. in American Studies (2009) from the University of Groningen (Netherlands) and his Ph.D. in American Culture (2015) from the University of Michigan. In 2015-16 he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Comparative American Studies at Oberlin College. In 2016, Dr. Kelderman came to the University of Louisville, where he teaches Native American and Indigenous studies, nineteenth-century American literature, and multi-ethnic literatures of the United States. Since Spring 2022, he has directed the M.A. program in English and the Ph.D. program in Rhetoric and Composition as Director of Graduate Studies in English. He is the author of Authorized Agents: Publication and Diplomacy in the Era of Indian Removal (SUNY Press, 2019), as well as of a number of articles and book chapters. He was a faculty fellow in the Commonwealth Center for the Humanities and Society in 2018-19.
Dr. Kelderman was nominated by a colleague, who included eight letters of support from colleagues, and doctoral and master’s students. His nominator writes that “Frank’s deep understanding of both students’ concerns and the larger systems involved, his advocacy for students, his commitment to community-building, and his creation of new systems to improve workflow have made an enormous impact on our program and our students.” One of Dr. Kelderman’s colleagues writes in his letter of support that “Frank clearly understands not only how the Graduate Program works in the larger system of the University, but sees how best to work within those systems to provide the experiences and education that graduate students need to engage with and understand…Yet, at the same time, Frank never loses sight of the needs of individual students.” Many students had wonderful things to say about Dr. Kelderman, but this comment from a new master’s student is typical: “He not only is a wonderful professor, but also an exemplary DGS. In my experience, Dr. Kelderman is attentive, gathering understanding of my personal goals within my program and my interests to gauge the best class choices and path forward as I move through my degree. He has helped me create a plan to move from the present to graduation in a way that feels attainable. I can see that he truly cares for me, not only so that I will have the best experience in my graduate studies here at UofL, but as a person as well.” Dr. Kelderman is a relatively new DGS, but as his letter writers observe, he has met the criteria for the award and is an exemplary advisor, advocate, and administrator.
Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Doctoral Students
May 2024
Bronwyn Williams, Ph.D.
Department of English
The Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Doctoral Students Award is presented each Spring at the May Doctoral Hooding and Commencement Ceremony. This award honors one-on-one mentoring of doctoral students through the direction of a dissertation and supervision of students’ research. All members of the graduate faculty who mentor doctoral students to the completion of the degree are eligible to be nominated by their chair, colleagues, or graduate students. Dr. Bronwyn Williams is this year’s recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Doctoral Students Award.
Dr. Bronwyn Williams is Professor of English and Endowed Chair in Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Louisville, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Rhetoric and Composition. He received his M.A. (1989) and Ph.D. (2000) in English from the University of New Hampshire. Dr. Williams came to the University of Louisville in 2000 as an Assistant Professor of English, after teaching as an adjunct instructor at various colleges. He is the author of numerous articles in composition studies, literacy studies, writing center studies, and popular culture studies, as well as the author or editor of eight books, including Literacy Practices and Perceptions of Agency (Routledge, 2018) and Literacies in Times of Disruption: Living and Learning During a Pandemic (Routledge, in press). He was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Sheffield in 2013 and a Visiting Professor at Pavlodar State University (Kazakhstan) in 2014. He is the recipient of a Spencer Foundation Grant for his “Global Climate Change Education Initiative” (2019-2022). He was the Director of the University Writing Center at UofL from 2011 to 2023.
Since coming to UofL in 2000, Dr. Williams has supervised 37 Ph.D. dissertations in Rhetoric and Composition at UofL, with one more doctoral advisee slated for a defense in Spring 2024. In addition, he is currently directing at least five other dissertations in progress. Not only has Dr. Williams mentored over 25% of the doctorates in English since 2004, but the quality of his mentoring is exceptional according to his nominator. One of his doctoral graduates who is a faculty member at another institution had this to say about Dr. Williams: “He is the gold standard for graduate mentorship. While working on my dissertation, Dr. Williams not only offered his vast knowledge of our discipline, but support, empathy, and genuine interest—he takes the time to understand students’ material realities, and how this can affect our research.” Other students mentored by Dr. Williams note his ability to “instill confidence and direction” and claim he “models a career of character, joy, and service.” Another recent graduate expressed his gratitude for the support he received from Dr. Williams in research, teaching, and job-seeking: “I would not have been able to navigate the academic landscape as an international student nor become successful in research, teaching, and service without Dr. Williams’ mentorship and guidance. Whenever I had questions or concerns about graduate school, dissertation research, academic publishing, or the job market, he made time to meet with me. Dr. Williams’ mentorship has played (and continues to play) a pivotal role in shaping my personal, academic, and professional trajectory, and I am grateful for the privilege of working under his guidance.” Additionally, while serving as the Director of the Writing Center, Dr. Williams was an exemplary partner to the Graduate School, leading and supporting workshops on graduate writing and directing the Graduate School-sponsored Annual Dissertation Writing Retreat. Dr. Williams is certainly a deserving recipient of this award.
Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Masters Students
May 2024
Ying Kit Chan, M.F.A.
Department of Art and Design
The Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Master’s Students Award is presented each Spring at the May Doctoral Hooding and Commencement Ceremony. This award honors one-on-one mentoring of master’s students through the direction of a thesis, supervision of a student’s research and creative activity, and/or oversight of a student’s internship, exhibition, or final professional paper. All members of the graduate faculty who mentor students to the completion of the degree are eligible to be nominated by their chair, colleagues, or graduate students. Professor Ying Kit Chan from the Department of Art and Design is this year’s recipient.
Professor Ying Kit Chan is currently a Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Studio Art in the Department of Art and Design. He teaches and advises students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. As an artist, Professor Chan has continued to produce new works and has exhibited in over 200 solo and group exhibitions in the United States as well as in Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, Ecuador, Colombia, Germany, Korea, Japan, England, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Portugal. Professor Chan has received important public awards and fellowships, including two Kentucky Arts Council Al Smith Visual Arts Fellowships (1994 and 2002) and a National Endowment for the Arts/Southern Arts Federation Visual Arts Fellowship (1992).
Professor Chan was born and raised in Hong Kong where he practiced as an artist and received the Urban Council Art Award at the Hong Kong Contemporary Art Biennial (1977). In 1979, he came to America to further his studies. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Oklahoma, and his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Cincinnati. Before coming to the University of Louisville as an assistant professor in 1984, he was a visiting assistant professor of art at West Virginia University.
Several students nominated Professor Chan, each of whom emphasized that he is a mentor who invests in his students’ careers and in them as people. One writes, “As my mentor, Professor Chan has been helping me to refine my teaching philosophy and curriculum vitae (CV) to prepare for the job market. I feel that I am very prepared for the world beyond graduate school because of Professor Chan’s lifelong experience and knowledge as a committed arts educator. He has worked very hard to create a supportive, inclusive, and resource-rich learning experience for all students in the University of Louisville’s MFA program.” Another graduate of the MFA program offers this praise: “He is a professor who goes above and beyond as an educator to consistently show up for his students. Those are the professors that students remember. Those are the professors who make a difference.” Professor Chan has mentored dozens of bachelor’s students and almost three-dozen MA and MFA students in his career at UofL, and is well-deserving of this award for outstanding mentorship of master’s students.