DR. JOSEPH ALLEN NAMED CONCORD UNIVERSITY DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR
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Sarah M. Pritchett
Concord University
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May 17, 2021
DR. JOSEPH ALLEN NAMED CONCORD UNIVERSITY DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR
ATHENS, W.Va. – Dr. Joseph Allen, Chair of the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences at Concord University, has been promoted from Professor to the rank of Distinguished Professor. Dr. Allen is the first faculty member at Concord to achieve this honor.
“I’m honored to receive this recognition,” Dr. Allen said. “Concord is a hidden gem with student opportunities that simply don’t exist at some larger universities.”
According to criteria outlined by Board of Governors policy, “A candidate for promotion to Distinguished Professor should have been a Professor for at least six years, clearly demonstrate significant mastery of teaching, including proficient use of current instructional methodologies, proven capability of addressing the University’s pedagogical expectations and needs.”
The qualifications go on to say that “the candidate should have demonstrated continued responsible leadership at the College, University, and community levels, including chairing committees and discharging duties in the service areas” and “should demonstrate continuation of the activities that led to earlier promotions and efforts to keep abreast of new developments in the candidate’s discipline.”
“Dr. Joseph Allen’s promotion to become Concord’s first-ever Distinguished Professor is an honor well-deserved,” stated Dr. Edward W. Huffstetler, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. “He has spent his entire career as an innovative classroom instructor, a tireless researcher and scholar, and as a faculty member dedicated to service, both to the institution as well as the profession as a whole.”
“His effectiveness in the classroom can be measured by his continual use of new and creative pedagogical strategies. His scholarship is varied and extensive—and often grant-funded, such as in the case of his most recent $200,000 NSF grant awarded just this year,” Dr. Huffstetler said. “His service record includes not only his extensive work on important faculty committees at Concord, but also his service as a member of the Advisory Council of Faculty, a statewide group of faculty representatives advising The West Virginia Legislature, the Higher Education Policy Commission, the West Virginia Council of Community and Technical College Education, and the West Virginia Institutions of Higher Education Board of Governors, among other groups.”
“Dr. Allen’s ongoing work, and his perpetual effort to achieve excellence in his profession, serves as a model to the faculty as whole, and a reminder that pedagogical and scholarly achievement does not end with the awarding of tenure or the rank of Professor. It’s a lifelong commitment, a fact clearly demonstrated by Dr. Allen’s distinguished accomplishments,” he said.
Dr. Allen came to Concord in 1998, founded the Environmental Geosciences program in 2004, chaired of the Division of Science, Mathematics, & Health from 2002-2014, and was a finalist for WV Professor of the year in 2019. Prior to his promotion to Distinguished Professor, he served as Professor of Geology in the College of Science, Mathematics, and Health.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in Geological Sciences from Michigan State University; a Master of Science in Geology from East Carolina University; and a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from the University of Kentucky. Dr. Allen has also served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Tennessee.
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