2008 International Award Winners:
Jan Sengers and the RDLC team (AGNR)

Distinguished International Service Award

Dr. Jan V. Sengers

Professor JAN V. SENGERS has been a faculty member at the University of Maryland since 1968, first in the Institute for Molecular Physics, subsequently in the Institute for Physical Science and Technology, and also as Affiliate Professor in Chemical Engineering and in Mechanical Engineering. He served as Director of the Chemical Physics Program (1978- 1985) and as Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering from 1994 to 1999. In 1997 he received the title of Distinguished University Professor. Professor Sengers is an internationally recognized scholar in experimental and theoretical thermodynamics and statistical physics of soft condensed matter science. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, World Innovation Foundation, and Honorary Fellow of the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam. In 1980 he was elected correspondent of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences; in 1991 he received the Touloukian Medal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; in 1992 an honorary doctorate degree from the Technical University Delft; and in 2002 he received the title of Academician Emeritus of the International Academy of Refrigeration of the Russian Federation. Sengers has been actively involved in professional matters on many international committees. At the University of Maryland he took the initiative of establishing the Burgers Program for Fluid Dynamics and established a vibrant collaborative exchange program with the J.M. Burgers Centre in The Netherlands. Additionally, he has made extraordinary contributions to science education in continental Europe. In 1996 he was given the task of making a comparison between the level of university education in physics and astronomy in The Netherlands and the level elsewhere in Europe and in the USA. His report was the first review report that contained a strong plea to change the 5-year curriculum into a 3+2 bachelor and master structure, not only in The Netherlands but across Europe as well. These recommendations have now been adopted in The Netherlands, Belgium and other European countries.

Landmark Award

The RDLC project (AGNR)

Dr. MARK VARNER, Dr. ROBERT HILL, Mr. DALE JOHNSON, Mr. BRAD PALEG, and Dr. PAVEL SOROKIN have developed and implemented a multi-faceted program that incorporates distance education technology and subject matter expertise. The group established a distance learning center (RDLC) in Southern Russia that has garnered national recognition for innovation, and through video-teleconference, has brought world-renowned veterinary experts to a province far from Moscow. After nine years of effort, the result has been ground-breaking. This team has helped build the technological capacity of several Russian universities, modernized their curriculum, and created a regional center for education. The RDLC is located at Stavropol State Agrarian University in Stavropol, Russia, a region with few opportunities for continuing education. This program involves one university, four institutes, the Ministry of Agriculture in the Stavropol Region, practicing veterinarians, a U.S. non-governmental organization, small businesses and farmers in the North Caucasus region of Russia, and the four different units of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Drs. Varner and Hill have taught nearly 150 Russian faculty members to use distance education technology since 1999. Dr. Varner received his Ph.D. in Physiology from North Carolina State University in 1981. He has been with the University of Maryland since that time as a Professor and Extension Specialist and currently as Director of the Undergraduate Program in Animal Sciences. Dr. Hill’s Ph.D. (1984) is from Iowa State University, in Soil Physics. He also has been with the University of Maryland since receiving his degree, and is a professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology. Mr. Johnson received his M.S. in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University in 1986, as well as a Certificate in Financial Planning in 2006. He is a Regional Farm Management Specialist with the Extension Service at the Western Maryland Research and Education Center. Mr. Paleg has a Graduate Certificate in Distance Education and Technology from the University of Maryland University College, as well as an M.B.A. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He is currently the Coordinator and Distance Learning Specialist of the Office of Information and Education Technology’s Distance Learning Unit for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Dr. Sorokin received his Ph.D. in 1986 in Agriculture (Farming Systems) from the Moscow Institute of Agricultural Engineers, currently the Moscow State Agro-Engineering University, where he is currently a professor in Agribusiness management.