Meet the 2017 Faculty Career Champion Award Winners – Dr. Lewis Griffith and Dr. Nancy Lorenzon

On September 13, 2017, DU Career Services hosted an appreciation breakfast for over 100 faculty who were nominated by students for making a difference in their career development journey.  At the end of the 2016-2017 academic year, DU Career Services offices across campus sent an email to all undergraduate and graduate students asking them which faculty members have been their faculty career champions – faculty members that have supported student internship, career, and continuing education goals. We received 366 responses reflecting the work of 185 unique faculty members.  At the award ceremony, faculty received a letter containing the student quotes from the nomination process.  They also were also given the chance to share career development ideas and opportunities, learned of upcoming DU Career Service events to share with students, and celebrate the two award winners.  The two selected Faculty Career Champions received several student nominations. The faculty award winners are Dr. Lewis Griffith and Dr. Nancy Lorenzon.

Dr. Lewis Griffith is an alumnus of the Korbel Ph.D. program where specialized in the area of security studies. Dr. Griffith has done significant independent research, to include published work, in the areas of weapons proliferation, humanitarian intervention, classroom simulation and exercise, and the implications of globalization on the state security policies of non-Western states.   Before joining the faculty of Korbel in 2010, he was faculty at Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) and had taught at DU, the University of Colorado-Denver, and Metropolitan State College of Denver as an adjunct professor.  Lewis has helped students tremendously with finding out about great internship opportunities and successfully securing very competitive internships.  With his help, students have interned throughout the intelligence community, the State Department, Department of Defense, many different think tanks and all this throughout the U.S. and abroad.  The several students who nominated him commented about this willingness to give advice and support regarding internships and careers, how his classes helped them prepare for employment, how student-focused he is and how much they appreciated his mentoring.  Here is a direct quote from one of his student nominators “He is a model professor, intimate and devoted mentor, and overall remarkable man. His insight into the international security careers was instrumental in helping me write resumes, prepare for interviews, and be a value team member at work. He is the top-tier at JKSIS.”

Dr. Nancy Lorenzon is a Teaching Professor with the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Denver.  She has been with the University since 2007. She currently serves as Director of Pre-Professional/Allied Health Advising, Director of the Undergraduate Research Center, and oversees the Professional Science Master’s program in Biomedical Sciences.She recently received the Master Educator Award and the Faculty Advisor of the Year honor. Nancy received her Ph.D. in Anatomy and Neurobiology from the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center and her B.S. in Animal Behavior from Bucknell University.   Nancy is a tireless career champion and advocate as stated by several of her students.  One of her student nominees stated it best.  “Dr. Lorenzon has always been there to support her students, including me. I feel comfortable coming to her for advice and she has helped me to look at alternative career paths when I didn’t feel confident in the career path I originally had in mind. She is a voice of reason and is the epitome of empathy. Nancy is the most selfless professor at DU. She understands what it takes to want to get into medical school and she ALWAYS has time for everyone.”

DU Career Services would like to congratulate all of the faculty nominees for their tireless work and effort to guide students in their career development journeys.  Nominations by students for the 2017-18 Faculty Career Champion award will begin in the Spring Quarter.  Contact Career & Professional Development for more information, career@du.edu.

By Jane Kolb
Jane Kolb Career & Professional Development