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ACHIEVERS
Michael Van Cleave Alexander, associate professor of history, is the author of a new book, Three Crises in Early English History: Personalities and Politics during the Norman Conquest, the Reign of King John, and the Wars of the Roses.
The book gives a clear, concise account of the three major crises in early English history, beginning with the Norman Conquest, which began with the battle of Hastings in 1066 and ended with William the Conqueror's suppression of the Yorkshire rebels in 1071. The book gives a detailed account of the positive and negative effects of the conquest on English government, religion, and society. In another chapter, it explains King John's judicial and financial expedients, which collectively drove a determined minority of the country's barons into the open rebellion that culminated in the 63 clauses of the Magna Carta, the most famous document in English history.
The book concludes with four connected essays on the Wars of the Roses, which resulted from England's defeat in the Hundred Years' War and the ineffectual rule of Henry VI. These chapters bring to life such colorful figures as Richard of York, Warwick the Kingmaker, and Edward IV. They also analyze the reasons for Richard of Gloucester's usurpation of the throne and later murder of his two nephews in the Tower of London.
The University Press of America published the book.
Katherine Soniat, associate professor of English, has won the 1998 William Faulkner Award in Poetry.
The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society presents writing awards in six categories. This year's poetry competition drew 102 entries, and 22 remained as semi-finalists. Soniat won the award for her poem "The Spring Water," which will be published in the fall issue of Southern Review. She received $750 and a gold medal in the image of William Faulkner.
Soniat received the award in September in New Orleans, during a ceremony that included Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and director Ron Shelton (Bull Durham, Blaze), NPR commentator Roy Blount, and historian Shelby Foote.
Judge of the poetry category was James Nolan, who has published two books of poetry, What Moves is Not the Wind, and Why I Live in the Forest.
Soniat has four published books of poetry. The most recent, A Shared Life, was published by the University of Iowa Press and won the Iowa Poetry Prize and the Virginia Prize for Poetry. Her work also is found in such literary publications as the Harvard Review, The New Republic, and The Nation.
Soniat recently was one of 10 poets, out of 61 who applied, to receive the $5,000 fellowship in poetry from the Virginia Commission for the Arts. The award was given on the basis of her work on an unpublished collection of poems on the Chesapeake Bay. The work is titled The Landing.
The Wildlife Society honored Roy Kirkpatrick at its annual meeting. Kirkpatrick, professor and associate dean for undergraduates in the College of Forestry and Wildlife Resources, was presented with a Special Recognition Service Award at the fall meeting in Buffalo, N.Y.
"He has done an exceptional job both as editor for the journal and in the profession as a whole," said Harry Hodgdon, executive director of the Wildlife Society.
Kirkpatrick has served as the editor for Wildlife Monographs, a national publication of The Wildlife Society since 1980. His wife, Thelma Kirkpatrick, received an Award of Appreciation also from the Wildlife Society for editorial assisting.
In his 32 years at Virginia Tech, Kirkpatrick not only has received two outstanding teacher awards from the college, but also the Outstanding Wildlife Professional in Virginia Award from the state chapter of The Wildlife Society in 1993. He has written over 140 journal articles and several textbook chapters for the fisheries and wildlife industry. Awarded the T.H. Jones Professorship of Fisheries and Wildlife in 1989, Kirkpatrick has co-chaired the university's committee to rewrite academic eligibility standards.
At the recent Buffalo meeting, Kirkpatrick jointly organized and taught a four-hour workshop on "Writing and Publishing in Scientific Literature" with a colleague. This was the second time in four years that Kirkpatrick spoke to The Wildlife Society on how to publish academic articles. He also co-authored three papers presented by Virginia Tech graduate students at the meeting.
The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine's Chapter of Omega Tau Sigma (OTS) was awarded the national association's "Vesper Award" at the recent OTS Grand Council Meeting held at Michigan State University.
The Vesper Award is a national award which recognizes the chapter with the most impressive community-service program. The VMRCVM's OTS chapter performs a variety of community-service activities, ranging from pet visitation in nursing homes to conducting information programs for area school-children.
"I am proud of the hard work and dedication to service that is embodied in this group of students, said faculty advisor Robert B. Duncan Jr. of the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology. "Our chapter members serve as excellent representatives of our profession and our college."