POTSDAM -- Four SUNY Potsdam faculty and staff members were recently honored for their accomplishments by being awarded the prestigious 2011 Chancellor's Award for Excellence from State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher.

The awards were presented by SUNY Potsdam President Dr. John F. Schwaller in a campus ceremony on May 5, as part of the College's annual Employee Recognition and Service Awards Ceremony.

The recipients included:

• Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Classified Service: Leslie Delosh

• Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Faculty Service: Dr. Arlene Stillwell

• Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities: Edward Komara

• Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching: Dr. Paul Siskind

The Chancellor's Awards for Excellence are system-level honors conferred to acknowledge and provide system-wide recognition for consistently superior professional achievement and to encourage the ongoing pursuit of excellence.

These programs underscore SUNY's commitment to sustaining intellectual vibrancy, advancing the boundaries of knowledge, providing the highest quality of instruction, and serving the public good.

Through these awards, SUNY publicly proclaims its pride in the accomplishment and personal dedication of its instructional faculty, librarians and professional staff across its campuses.

The awards provide SUNY-wide recognition in five categories: faculty service, librarianship, professional service, scholarship and creative activities and teaching.

Individuals selected for this honor are role models within the SUNY community. In acknowledgment of their selection, recipients are given recognition for the particular award received in the college catalogue by the addition of the phrase "State University Chancellor's Award for Excellence in ..." following their title.

A certificate and a Chancellor's Excellence Medallion are also bestowed to commemorate selection.

About the recipients:

• Leslie Delosh: A 16-year dedicated employee of SUNY Potsdam, Delosh currently works in the Theatre and Dance Department as a Secretary 1, and is for all intents and purposes the public face of the department.

In addition to her many and varied administrative tasks she also runs the box office. Delosh approaches her work enthusiastically and thoroughly.

Her energy and tireless effort has been described as contagious. Students regularly comment on her positive attitude as she tackles acts small and large.

The most recent example of such recognition came when the Emerging Leaders student group selected her as their favorite clerical worker.

Delosh gave of her time to assist with a youth performing arts summer camp sponsored by the department, completing important administrative tasks for the camp and responding to the needs of the students and parents involved.

When Delosh started with the Department of Theatre and Dance, she noticed that members of the faculty were doing their own poster and program design and publicity.

She acquired the skills necessary to assume responsibility for those tasks for all departmental productions on campus.

Arlene Stillwell: Dr. Arlene Stillwell consistently demonstrates concern for all areas of her students' education, especially in research and mentoring.

She has done an outstanding job of serving and mentoring students in various capacities within the psychology department. Stillwell has chaired 18 honors thesis committees and served as a member of numerous others.

Her efforts play a critical role in preparing undergraduate students for graduate studies. She was also the faculty advisor for seven years to Phi Eta Sigma, a national freshman honor society.

Stillwell also advised the psychology honors society, Psi Chi, for 13 years. In 2001, the Department of Psychology was asked to participate in a first round of assessment self-study reviews.

The department, under Stillwell's guidance, helped develop the initial model for how assessment should take place on campus. As departmental assessment chair, she was responsible for writing the first self-study review document and for developing the department's primary assessment tool, the Psychology Senior Exam.

Stillwell volunteers her time to assist with many community projects. She obtained grants for the Waddington Hepburn Library, assisted in organizing a drive for the St. Lawrence County Adopt-a-Platoon Project and raised money for the International Rescue Committee, to name just a few.

For the past several years, Arlene has helped with the Annual Racquette Valley Habitat for Humanity Walk-a-Thon fundraiser.

• Edward Komara: As the Associate Librarian for SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, Edward Komara is a rare combination of excellent music librarian, scholar and award-winning music historian.

It is in the field of music scholarship that Komara has had the greatest impact and influence. His contributions to the published literature on jazz and the blues, as well as music collection development activities, have established him as a scholar with vision.

Komara's publication record is outstanding and extensive. In 1998, he co-authored a book that is still in print to this day.

It is used as a source of Mississippi research and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame by the Blues Foundation in 2006.

Komara has authored three books in total, and in addition has written many articles, chapters and which have been published in a broad span of books and journals.

He has received several recognitions at the national level, the most recent of which was the Richard S. Hill Award from the Music Library Association.

• Paul Siskind: As a Professor of music theory and composition at The Crane School of Music, where he has served since 1998, Dr. Paul Siskind has achieved an exemplary and consistent record in teaching. His student evaluations serve as positive evidence of his excellent performance in the classroom and his impact on student learning.

Many former and current students identify Siskind as the professor who most influenced their college experience.

He demonstrates an interest in each of his students and helps them succeed through his creative instructional techniques.

He has had a number of recordings of his works distributed internationally. The production of his full-length opera, "The Sailor-Boy and the Falcon," at Crane was a tremendous educational and performance experience for the students and community. Siskind is active in the New York State School Music Association.

He has also received several commissions from the Orchestra of Northern New York, the 2000 Good Will Games and has composed several works for performance by other members of the Crane faculty.

Siskind was the recipient of a President's Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Endeavors in 2007.

He has been voted SUNY Potsdam Professor of the Year three times in a campus-wide poll sponsored by the Phi Eta Sigma honor society.