Carl H. Simpson Bridging Award
The Carl H. Simpson Bridging Award is made annually to a student, staff or faculty member who has created bridges and forged new paths that others may follow and build upon in turn. During his twenty-five years working at Western as a professor and administrator, Carl H. Simpson was a man dedicated to bridging intellectual, interpersonal and administrative worlds. With kindness, enthusiasm and creativity, he sought to unite divisions within academia, faculty, staff, students and administrative campus life. Carl helped people come together and facilitated creative process in a variety of settings. He acknowledged people’s strengths and encouraged them to trust themselves, helping people find and give their best.
The Carl H. Simpson Bridging Award is intended to benefit a WWU student, staff, or faculty member who has demonstrated a remarkable ability or innovative approach that effectively connects some aspect of academic or campus life with another, resulting in the betterment the Western community. Some recent examples: developing a new style of teaching to improve the quality of education; developing interdisciplinary study or intercampus diplomacy; creating supportive service; or mentoring others.
Selection Criteria
The following criteria and policies are meant to secure comprehensive evaluation:
- Any current WWU faculty member, staff member or student is eligible.
- No person shall receive this award more than once.
- Only the name of the award recipient will be announced upon completion of the process; the names of other nominees and candidates shall not be published at any time during or after the process.
- Nominees will be asked if they wish to be considered, and, if so, will be required to submit supporting materials to the evaluation committee.
- The award is for creating bridges and forging new paths that others may follow and build upon in turn and supporting materials should relate to this theme.
- To secure consistency in the evaluation process nominees may be asked to submit the following materials.
- A current vita.
- Materials related to “bridging”-related contributions while at Western.
- The candidate will solicit up to five letters of support. The letters should register the impact of the candidate’s leadership activities. Letters of support should be sent directly to the Dean’s office administering the award.
- The candidate will provide up to three pages describing aspects of his/her “bridging”-type activities that may not be covered by the requested materials.
Award/Recognition
Award Adminstration
Nomination Process
Nominations for the 2024 award are now CLOSED. Thank you to those who took the time to nominate someone!
2024
Karen Stout - Morse Leadership Institute
Professor Karen Stout has been at Western since 2000, is the director of the Morse Leadership Institute, and the Bowman Distinguished Professor of Leadership. In 2019, she received Western’s Outstanding Leadership Award, as well as other service and teaching awards.
Karen works hard to bring people and organizations together for everyone’s benefit. She’s integrated community-based learning into nearly all her classes over her 30-year career, allowing her to work with many non-profits throughout Bellingham and Whatcom Counties. She values this form of pedagogy as it provides high impact learning opportunities for students. As a result, students have worked with local and international non-profits like Northwest Youth Services, the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, Brigadoon Service Dogs, the Max Higbee Center, the Volunteer Center of Whatcom County, and Days for Girls International, to name just a few. Karen’s a faculty advisor for Western’s Days for Girls club and a volunteer for the local Bellingham Chapter.
Her favorite work is to foster students’ leadership abilities by bringing them together with local and global internship and employment opportunities. She loves helping students become leaders to bring about the social and professional change most important to them.
Past Awardees
1 awardee(s) for this year
2023 Awardees
Josh Cerretti - History
Josh Cerretti arrived at Western in 2014 and is an associate professor of History and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. His work focuses on the problems of state violence in 20th century U.S. history, with a particular focus on sexuality, race, and gender.
Cerretti created “Bellingham History from Below,” a place-based learning experience and virtual tour that critically examines how a settler society established itself on Coast Salish territory in what is now downtown Bellingham. As interim director of WGSS, he collaborated with Litav Langley from LGBTQ+ Western to curate the Queering Research series, a set of virtual and live events highlighting queer scholars and practitioners of color.
Cerretti is also a proud union educator and has been active in the SUNY Graduate Student Employees Union, the United Faculty of Western Washington Executive Board and Bargaining Team, and the Northwest Washington Central Labor Council. Additionally, he serves as the board secretary for the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center and has been active in local campaigns for anti-racism, economic justice, and the transformation of the criminal legal system. Cerretti is grateful for all the opportunities people on and beyond campus have provided him to collectively envision and enact a better world.