Udo Fluck – 2008
Udo Fluck earned a Ph.D., Summa Cum Laude, in 2003, with an emphasis in educational training and instructional technology from The University of Montana. Udo is a senior lecturer in the Department of Geography and adjunct faculty member in the School of Business Administration and the Davidson Honors College. He is an expert in developing traditional and hybrid cultural and global competency courses.
In 2003, based on his initial doctoral research, Udo developed Multicultural Learning Solutions (MLS), a unique, hybrid, interactive and award-winning instructional approach to multicultural learning that teaches individuals to become more internationally competent in today's global world. MLS, with Udo as director, merged with the Department of Geography in 2007. MLS courses are among the fastest growing courses offered at the University. Student enrollment in courses, workshops and other training activities with MLS content taught by Udo has steadily increased. More than 200 students participated in 2006 and over 300 participated in 2007.
Following are a few excerpts from Udo's nomination and support letters, as well as student feedback from recent years.
- “Udo's interest and involvement at UM regarding the understanding of other peoples and cultures date back to the 1990s when he served several terms as the president of the International Student Association. Udo, as a student, sought to work and learn about fellow students from around the world. In recent years, Udo has built a solid reputation as a quality instructor and has helped hundreds of students gain greater understanding and appreciation of diverse peoples and their cultures. Udo has addressed issues of diversity within the context of the Model Arab League, Department of Military Science and Day of Dialogue. Within the greater community, Udo has given frequent presentations on cultural diversity and has been actively involved in the Missoula International Friendship Program. Mayor Engen invited Udo to train city employees in cultural sensitivity. Within the Department of Geography, his courses move beyond acknowledgement of cultural diversity to that of cultural pluralism and how to accommodate it. (Jeffrey A. Gritzner, Chair, Department of Geography) (Nader H. Shooshtari, Professor, Department of Marketing and Management)
- “Udo has probably been the most active faculty member in recent years to donate his time to provide Career Fair workshops on diversity in the workplace. He has provided key skill courses for the UM Advocate Program in Enrollment Services. He gave talks on international careers at Career Services' luncheons and presented at the International Week Brown Bag Series. Udo was also the keynote speaker at the Citizen's Diplomacy Community Summit in Great Falls in May 2006. (David Strobel, Dean, Graduate School)
- “I believe that Dr. Fluck's class was indispensable in my college education because it taught me how to manage and embrace the diversity that our ever shrinking global village contains. His instruction will undoubtedly benefit my future endeavors working and traveling abroad. (Seth Whitfield, Geography Student)
- “"Professor von Reichert, I wanted to send you an e-mail about ethics and how I think Udo Fluck's Culture and Business class would be a great additional choice to the ethics classes that are provided at the University. Although the Political Science class I took is a beneficial class and applies well for Geographers, I felt Udo's class provided much more value as an ethics class. This is because Professor Fluck's class really helps people become more sensitive to cultural values that different people have. By understanding how these different values influence people I felt it becomes easier to understand peoples' actions and interactions with others. He teaches these values through guest speakers and class discussions as well as, research papers and interviewing an exchange student. All these tactics, especially the interview, really provides a new approach to understanding people and their cultures, and provides a unique and more personal understanding of ethics than was possible from my ethics class. (Brad Stevens, GEOG 417, Fall Semester 2007)
Dennis McAuliffe – 2007
Dennis prefers to be called Denny. His primary nominator for this award said, “Many times in one’s life there are special people that pass through and are not given the credit and acknowledgement that are due to them. But not this time, because Denny is one of those individuals who I don’t want to forget, and I want to publicly acknowledge his success and here are the reasons why.” Following are a few excerpts from Denny’s nomination and support letters.
- “Ever since stepping onto campus he brought with him a conceptual idea that recruiting students, especially minority students, takes much more effort than the usual tactics.”
- “With the idea of increasing the number of Native Americans pursuing journalism careers, and a chance for their story to be heard, he went out of his way to develop a mechanism that would jump start a very successful program on campus to recruit, retain and graduate American Indians in the School of Journalism.”
- Denny was the creative force behind Reznet, “the online student newspaper for Native America and winner of the Native American Journalists Association's 2003 Native Media Award for Best Internet News Site. A Reznet story also was national winner of the Society of Professional Journalists' 2004 Mark of Excellence award in the online opinion and commentary category.”
- “He chose to leave a highly-paid and prestigious position because, I think, he discovered how he could make an even greater difference as a Native journalist – by helping young Native students become journalists.”
- “Each year Denny sets goals for his project, and because of the successes of the past, this year’s internship successes will be hard to top he admits, but he will keep trying.”
- “Denny, an enrolled member of the Osage Tribe of Oklahoma, is the Native American Journalist in Residence at The University of Montana under four grants from prestigious foundations, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the McCormick Tribune Foundation, and the Gannett Foundation. Since coming to UM from the Washington Post in 1999, Denny has brought more than a million dollars in foundation money to the School of Journalism. Through these efforts he provided these organizations with a greater understanding of diversity and multiculturalism and a chance to fund important efforts.”
- “Denny was acknowledged nationally for his work on Reznet and was awarded the 2005 Barry Bingham Sr. Fellowship from the National Conference of Editorial Writers. This award is presented annually to a journalism educator committed to preparing minority students for successful careers in journalism.”
- “On our campus he has been a valued mentor – and father figure – to a number of Native students, even going so far as to have one live with his family after the student faced some medical problems.”
- “Every summer he teaches at the American Indian Journalism Institute in South Dakota and he’s been successful at attracting some of the most promising Native journalism students in the country to UM.”
- “He was instrumental this year in helping Reznet students land some of the most prestigious internships in the country, including at the New York Times and Washington Post.”
- “Thanks in large part to Denny I was able to attend the American Indian Journalism Institute and my life changed dramatically, he helped me discover my passion and put me on the path to a career in journalism.”
- “I can’t imagine a more deserving and worthy person to be honored by our institution for his contributions to diversity.”
2006 - Bernadine Gantert
2005 - Terri Gruba, Financial Aid
2004 - David Schuldberg, Psychology
2003 - Casey Charles, English
2002 - G.G. Weix, Women's Studies
2001 - David Strobel, Graduate School
2000 - Award Not Given
1999 - Maureen Curnow,Foreign Languages and Literatures
1998 - Mary Kamensky, Graduate School
1997 - Rustem Medora, Pharmaceutical Sciences
1996 - Larry LaCounte, Curriculum and Instruction
1995 - Paul Miller, Sociology
1994 - Larry Gianchetta, School of Business Administration
1993 - James Flightner, College of Arts and Sciences
