Leslie Leip wins 2007 Faculty Talon Award

By Staci Zavattaro, doctoral student, SPA

Dr. Leslie Leip of the School of Public Administration recently won the 2007 Faculty Talon Award for her outstanding leadership qualities and commitment to students both in and out of the classroom.

SPA faculty members nominated Leip for this award last spring. Leip, who joined the faculty in 1995, serves as the Master of Public Administration program coordinator, faculty advisor for the FAU chapter of Pi Alpha Alpha Honor Society, MPA internship coordinator, the 2004 leader of the MPA reaccreditation process and much more. But when reading her application, it is plain to see that Leip’s passion is for her students, having personally advised all MPA students and chairing nine doctoral dissertations. “Clearly, it is through my teaching and individual instruction that I give the most to my students,” she wrote in her application.

“It’s nice to be honored for something that I already enjoy doing,” Leip said. “I would do this no matter what.”

The FAU National Alumni Association and Student Government Homecoming Committee sponsor the award, which began in 1997. Winners are named in four categories: faculty, alumni, student and presidential.

Steven Chapman, a SPA doctoral student who took two of Leip’s courses, wrote in a letter of recommendation supporting her nomination that not only was it “a pleasure” to have Leip as an instructor but that “unequivocally…she is one of my top professors.”