mark neuzil

Professor Mark Neuzil Receives John Ireland Presidential Award for Outstanding Achievement as a Teacher-Scholar

Department of Emerging Media Professor Mark Neuzil has been named the recipient of the John Ireland Presidential Award for Outstanding Achievement as a Teacher-Scholar for 2019.

The award, presented since 2008, recognizes outstanding academic achievement of faculty in teaching and scholarship, and exemplifies the mission and values of the University of St. Thomas as an institution committed to the teacher-scholar model. Awardees are tenured members of the St. Thomas faculty who have demonstrated a sustained commitment to not only their respective disciplines, but also to the university.

Awardees’ names are added to the John Ireland Presidential Award plaque, located in Aquinas Hall.

Dr. Neuzil joined the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication (now the Department of Emerging Media) faculty in 1993. He has been a tireless promoter of the journalism program to multiple audiences, both on and off campus with his involvement with TommieMedia. As a scholar, Dr. Neuzil’s work has leveraged his expertise in journalistic works with his passion for the environment, and in doing so has helped to increase the profile of St. Thomas and the College of Arts and Sciences. In addition to over 40 refereed academic conference papers, book reviews and essays, he has published over 26 articles in venues such as the Star Tribune, Audubon and the History Channel magazine. In addition, he has written or co-written eight books, three of which have received prestigious awards including the James W. Tankard Jr. Book Award, the Minnesota Book Award and the Winner of a Choice magazine Outstanding Academic Book Award. His 2016 book Canoes: A Natural History in North America was awarded the third-place OWAA Book of the Year, was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award and was awarded the Northeast Minnesota Book Award.

He has also been a strong proponent for study abroad by offering journalism courses in London and becoming director for the Rome Empower Program for fall 2020. He also receives excellent reviews from students that place him in the top tier of teachers in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Neuzil was voted Professor of the Year by his peers in 2013, recognized as a Fulbright Scholar in 2017 and named the Distinguished Visiting Professor of the Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota-Morris in spring 2018. He has taken a leadership role for the new Department of Emerging Media.

Dean Yohuru Williams of the College of Arts and Sciences, in his nomination letter, writes, “Our students are lucky to have such a consummate educator, leader, and journalist on the CAS faculty. I am proud, as Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, to nominate him for the John Ireland Presidential Award. His long list of scholarly publications, and his achievements in the classroom make Dr. Mark Neuzil more than deserving of this award.”

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Neuzil for this significant recognition.

Prior John Ireland Presidential Award recipients

  • Dr. Stephen Brookfield, School of Education, 2008
  • Dr. Terence Nichols, Department of Theology, 2008
  • Dr. Mary Reichardt, Department of Catholic Studies, 2008
  • Dr. Thomas Sullivan, Department of Philosophy, 2008
  • Dr. John Abraham, School of Engineering, 2009
  • Dr. Kendra Garrett, School of Social Work, 2009
  • Mr. Neil Hamilton, School of Law, 2009
  • Dr. Mark Stansbury-O’Donnell, Department of Art History, 2009
  • Dr. Matthew George, Department of Music, 2010
  • Dr. Teresa Rothausen, Department of Management, 2011
  • Dr. Bernard Brady, Department of Theology, 2012
  • Dr. Meg Wilkes Karraker, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, 2013
  • Dr. Sameer Kumar, Department of Operations and Supply Chain Management, 2013
  • Dr. Lisa Waldner, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, 2014
  • Mr. Gregory Sisk, School of Law, 2014
  • Dr. Sandy Menssen, Department of Philosophy, 2015
  • Dr. Patrick Van Fleet, Department of Mathematics, 2015
  • Dr. Tom Ippoliti, Department of Chemistry, 2017
  • Dr. Elise Amel, Department of Psychology, 2018