Pfeiler-Wunder and Wolfmeyer Receive 2019 Chambliss Faculty Awards

Kutztown, PA (09/10/2019) — Two members of the Kutztown University faculty have been recognized for their exceptional work. Dr. Amy Pfeiler-Wunder, art education, and Dr. Mark Wolfmeyer, secondary education, were awarded the 2019 Chambliss Faculty Research Award during the university's Faculty and Staff Convocation and Celebration Friday, Aug. 23.

Pfeiler-Wunder is a professor in the Department of Art Education. She began at KU in 2009 and her work spans the fields of social justice, art-science integration and professional identity within visual art educational communities. She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in reputable peer-reviewed journals such as Art Education, The Journal of Social Theory, and Translations along with contributing chapters to the books Practice Theory: Seeing the Power of Teacher Researchers and Young Children Pedagogy and the Arts. She has presented at six international conferences, delivered 40 national conference presentations, 26 times at the state-level and multiple times with KU graduate students. She also served as one of three key speakers at the seminar, "Challenges for the Integration of Science and Arts in the Classroom," at Pontificia Catholic University, Santiago, Chile, in 2019.

In 2016, she was the invited Keynote Lecture at the University of Texas at Austin, where she spoke about her work. She is currently the Higher Education Division Director of the National Art Education Association Research Commission where she supports and advocates for research in the field of visual art education. She also currently serves on the National Art Education Association (NAEA) board of directors.

Pfeiler-Wunder was recognized as the 2017 Outstanding Higher Education Art-Educator for Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Art-Educator Association. She recently received a grant from the National Art Education Foundation to help art educators understand how their personal and professional identities impact views of their learners and curriculum development. Pfeiler-Wunder served as faculty speaker at the university's spring 2019 commencement.

Pfeiler-Wunder holds a Ph.D. in teaching and learning/art education from the University of Iowa. She received a Master of Arts in art education from Iowa and a Bachelor of Arts in art education and elementary education from Mount Mercy College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Wolfmeyer is an assistant professor in the Department of Secondary Education. He began at KU in 2015 and has published numerous books and research articles related to mathematics and STEM education. He came to KU with one peer-reviewed book and three peer-reviewed journal articles already in publication. In his four years at KU he has published two additional peer-reviewed books, six peer-reviewed journal articles and six other invited publications in edited volumes or research journals. He also serves as the president of the Eastern Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of Mathematics (EPCTM) and is a regularly invited speaker, most recently to give the plenary address at this year's Pennsylvania Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (PAMTE) conference in May and in February as an expert facilitator on anti-racist mathematics teaching and learning for a National Science Foundation (NSF) project held at Michigan State University.

Wolfmeyer's first book, Math Education for America: Policy Networks, Big Business and Pedagogy Wars (2014), analyzes math education policy through the social network of individuals and private and public organizations that influence it. His second book, Philosophy of STEM Education: A Critical Investigation (2015), uses philosophical methods to investigate STEM education's purpose and assumptions. Wolfmeyer's most recent book, Mathematics Education: A Critical Introduction (2017), offers both undergraduate and graduate students an introduction to the connections that exist between mathematics and a critical orientation to education. These last two books were both given the prestigious "Critics' Choice" award presented annually by the American Educational Studies Association (AESA).

Wolfmeyer holds a Ph.D. in urban education from the Graduate Center, City University of New York. He received a Master of Arts in mathematics education from Claremont Graduate University and a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and music from Pomona College.

The Chambliss award, inaugurated in 2004 through a gift from Dr. Carlson R. Chambliss, professor emeriti of physical science, is meant to recognize the very highest achievement in research and scholarship and can be awarded only once within a person's career.

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