Utah Valley Technical College, Utah Valley Community College, Utah Valley State College and Utah Valley University. Professor Elaine Englehardt has been here through them all.
Englehardt was recognized for her 34 years of service to this school on Oct. 19 when she received the 2010 Distinguished Faculty Award. The award was presented to Englehardt after she was invited to give a lecture entitled “Ethical Complexities of the 2008 Financial Crisis.”
This award marks the fifth annual recognition given out by UVU Foundation.
“It’s a recognition award for distinguished service to Utah Valley University,” said David Yells, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, who nominated Englehardt for this award.
Every year each dean nominates one individual they feel has really done a lot to improve this school. These nominations are then sent to the foundation and they announce a winner.
“I’ve been here 10 years now, and the whole time I’ve been here Elaine has always been someone who seems to have the best interest of Utah Valley University and our students at heart,” Yells said. “She contributes in an unimaginable variety of ways.”
Englehardt began working for the school in 1976 as an instructor for the journalism classes and an advisor for the student newspaper. Since then, it is hard to keep track of everything she has done. The list goes on and on, and it’s rare to find a student who has not benefited from her work in one way or another.
She had a big role in the development of the Center for the Study of Ethics, which has been nationally recognized for its efforts in the field of ethics. She publishes scholarly work regularly and has written five books.
Englehardt is invited to give lectures around the country, which helps bring recognition to the school. She has developed many TV courses for Ethics and Values, which are broadcast across the state.
Additionally, she supervised the Woodbury Art Gallery, spent 10 years helping develop the Capitol Reef Field Station and more recently has been the school’s congressional liaison, helping secure funding for a variety of initiatives across campus.
“And she teaches and is a great teacher,” Yells said.
When presented with the award, Englehardt commented that she never thought that she would be honored as a recipient of this award.
“I am truly humbled,” she told those in attendance as she accepted a check to help continue her work and research.
“She is an amazing woman, inside and outside of the classroom,” said Caitlin Anderson, a philosophy major who is currently working as a teacher’s aid for an Ethics and Values course Englehardt is teaching through distance education. “She deserved this award.”
When it comes down to it, Englehardt has done all of these things because of her love of the school and the students.
“I loved teaching from the moment I entered the classroom,” Englehardt said, “and I still love it today.”
