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Sarquis to receive Benjamin Harrison Medallion

04/20/2009

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Mickey Sarquis

Arlyne "Mickey" Sarquis, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, Miami University Middletown, will receive Miami University's prestigious Benjamin Harrison Medallion during May commencement. The announcement was made during faculty assembly April 15.

Sarquis is founder and director of Miami University’s Center for Chemistry Education
(www.terrificscience.org) and of the Terrific Science Press, the award-winning not-for-profit publishing arm of the Center, now in their 26th year. She is considered a pioneer in inquiry-based chemistry education.

“Dr. Sarquis’ research, workshops, projects and teaching have reached many thousands of educators who impact hundreds of thousands of students each year. She is a distinguished scholar, an accomplished scientist, a dedicated teacher and mentor,” said Miami President David Hodge. “Her deep commitment, outstanding accomplishments, and broad impact reflect the best qualities of Miami faculty.”

The Harrison Medallion is presented to members of Miami's faculty or staff who have made outstanding national contributions to education. It is named for the 1852 Miami graduate who was president of the United States from 1889-1893.

Sarquis, her staff and graduate students developed a research-based protocol for providing teachers with the science content knowledge, experience, confidence, and support they need to bring quality science instruction to their classes. The award-winning protocol has become a national template for teacher professional development programs.

Her pioneering efforts in professional development and resource publications for teachers have become national and international models. Over the past 25 years, Sarquis and the CCE have directly reached more than 21,500 teachers representing every state in the U.S., 50,000 students through direct programming and hundreds of thousands of students indirectly.

Sarquis has been honored with many other awards including the American Chemical Society's (ACS) 2008 Helen M. Free Award for Public Outreach, the ACS Cincinnati Section Chemist of the Year (2006), National Chemical Manufacturers Association Catalyst Award (1994) and the Ohio Academy of Science Outstanding University Educator Award (1990).

She has been awarded more than $16 million in external grants for the purpose of teacher outreach. She has published more than 60 books, including the popular Teaching Science with Toys series, and is a widely traveled guest lecturer. She also is an ACS Tour Speaker, guiding others to engage in their own scientific outreach.