Philip E. Sharpe, Jr. Community Engagement Award
The Western Washington University Philip E. Sharpe Community Engagement Award, named in honor of former WWU Board of Trustee member and active community volunteer Phil Sharpe, is given annually to a staff member, faculty member, or group of Western employees involved in outstanding community service, including outreach and engagement activities that benefit the well-being of the community at large or individual(s) in the community.
Examples of service:
- Participates in volunteer work, service organizations, or community advisory boards
- Organizes forums or community programs
- Volunteers for local non-profits or service organizations
Selection Criteria
- Current Western faculty, professional, or classified staff
- Minimum one year of WWU employment (this criteria is not applicable to a group nomination)
- The work they do is not a primary function of their position at Western
Award/Recognition
Award Administration
Nomination Process
2025
Kristin Anderson - Sociology
Kristin Anderson is a professor of Sociology in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. She studies how the legal system treats survivors of abuse, the effectiveness of verbal self-defense strategies against gaslighting and coercive control abuse, and connections between intimate partner abuse and inequalities of genders and sexualities. Along with her students, she partnered on research with community organizations including Skagit Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services and the Bellingham-Whatcom County Commission Against Sexual and Domestic Violence (BWCCADV).
As a volunteer legal advocate for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services of Whatcom County (DVSAS), she worked to keep survivors informed about what was happening with criminal cases. She attended civil protection order hearings to support survivors, who often do not have access to attorneys to represent them. She serves on the board of directors of DVSAS and was a member of the Womencare Shelter board and the Domestic Violence Risk Assessment Team of BWCCADV.
Past Awardees
1 awardee(s) for this year
2024 Awardees
Kristi Tyran - Management
Professor Kristi Lewis Tyran teaches management and leadership in the College of Business and Economics. After earning her B.S. in psychology and MBA from the University of Washington, she worked as a vice president in the banking industry before earning her Ph.D. in organizational behavior from the University of California, Irvine.
At Western since 2001, Kristi has received multiple awards for her research, including in the areas of leadership and emotion in organizations and international service learning. She received the Chase Franklin Teaching Award in 2005 and 2015 and was honored to be selected as the 2012 CBE Distinguished Teaching Fellow. She has taught four faculty-led international service-learning courses in Kenya and Rwanda.
Over the past 35 years she has volunteered with and served on a variety of community non-profit boards of directors. In Bellingham these include Womencare, the Bellingham Cooperative School, and Cedar Tree Montessori. In 2006 she was elected to the Board of Directors of WECU, a non-profit financial cooperative serving over 150,000 members. In her 18 years of service to WECU, she has held a variety of board leadership roles, most recently as board chair.