Hilldale faculty award winners announced

Four faculty members have been chosen to receive this year’s Hilldale Awards for major achievements in teaching, research and service.

Developed in 1987 for former Chancellor Irving Shain, the Hilldale Awards are given to a top professor in each of four areas of the university: physical sciences, biological sciences, social sciences and humanities. Recipients are nominated by their peers and selected by the executive committee in their faculty division.

Winners receive a stipend of $7,500 from the Hilldale Fund, which receives incomes from the operation of the Hilldale Shopping Center. This year’s recipients are:

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David Bordwell, Jacques Ledoux Professor of Film Studies

Bordwell is considered the world’s leading scholar in cinema studies and has helped shape an interdisciplinary approach to that field. He has written on individual filmmakers (Carl Dreyer, Yasujiro Ozu, Sergei Eisenstein) and on national filmmaking traditions (Hollywood, Hong Kong). He also has published work at a more theoretical level in film studies, on such topics as narration, inference and rhetoric, and history of film style

Bordwell has taught more than 6,000 undergraduates in his nearly 30 years at UW–Madison. Out of his dedication to teaching he has collaborated with his wife, Kristin Thompson, on two widely translated introductory textbooks on film art and film history.

Bordwell now directs the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research and works to enhance the film culture of UW–Madison and the larger community. His friendship with the director Ang Lee led to a preview screening on campus of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” last fall.

Born near Rochester, N.Y., Bordwell earned his bachelor’s at State University of New York at Albany and master’s and doctorate at the University of Iowa.

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W. Wallace Cleland, M.J. Johnson Professor of Biochemistry and Steenbock Professor of Chemical Science

As a researcher, Cleland is counted among the handful of leading figures in chemical enzymology. In his specialty, enzyme kinetics, he is the preeminent authority. In establishing the standards for rigorous kinetic analysis of multi-substrate reactions, he profoundly influenced the quality of work in enzymology. His isotopic methods are being applied in many enzyme chemistry laboratories around the world.

As a teacher Cleland is best-known for his course on Mechanisms of Enzyme Action, which he has given for some 30 years in continually updated editions. He has trained 35 graduate students and 30 postdoctoral associates and has been host to 10 visiting professors over extended periods of time.

He has served on the university’s Physical Sciences Divisional Committee, the editorial boards of major journals and several committees of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Born in Baltimore, Cleland earned his bachelor’s degree at Oberlin College and master’s and doctorate at UW–Madison.

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Dennis G. Maki, Ovid O. Meyer Professor of Medicine

Maki’s research has focused primarily on the complex problem of institutionally acquired infections in hospitals and nursing homes, and on the development and testing of strategies for prevention of infection. His investigations have formed the basis of many recommended control measures for preventing infections with vascular devices. He is referred to as one of the founders of molecular epidemiology.

Maki has been awarded the UW Alumni Teaching Award five times, as well as several other teaching awards. He has lectured at all major medical schools in the United States and has been named to Mastership of the American College of Physicians for his contributions in the education of internal medicine specialists.

Physicians throughout the region refer their patients to University Hospitals so that Maki will have an opportunity to improve on the care they have received. In one five-year period he gave 120 lectures to hospitals and medical groups throughout Wisconsin.

Maki grew up in Edgar, Wis., and earned his bachelor’s, master’s and medical degrees at UW–Madison.

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Charles T. Snowdon, Hilldale Professor and John T. Emlen Professor of Psychology and Zoology

For 25 years Snowdon’s research has focused on the behavioral biology of cooperatively breeding monkeys (marmosets and tamarins), where fathers and older brothers are the most active caretakers of infants. His laboratory has pioneered the development of noninvasive hormonal monitoring now used to monitor reproductive status of endangered primates around the world. He has studied vocal communication in marmosets and tamarins and has written about the evolution of human language from primate communication.

In addition to mentoring graduate students, Snowdon has been an active research mentor for undergraduates and has been co-author with 25 of them in such journals as Science and Nature. He also led an effort to provide students with more writing-intensive and field-experience courses.

He has served as president of the Animal Behavior Society, emphasizing during his term the importance of animal behavior studies for improving the human condition. He now is serving on the university’s Social Studies Divisional Committee.

Snowdon is a native of Pittsburgh who received his bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and master’s and doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.