Two professors raised to distinguished

04/21/2020 

Two SUNY Cortland faculty members were recently appointed to the rank of Distinguished Faculty by the SUNY Board of Trustees.

Steven Broyles, a member of the Biological Sciences Department, has been named a Distinguished Teaching Professor. This title is given to those who have demonstrated consistent superior mastery of teaching, service to students and commitment to ongoing intellectual growth and scholarship.

Donna Videto, a member of the Health Department, was elevated to the rank of Distinguished Service Professor. This title is conferred upon individuals who have given sustained outstanding service to the campus, SUNY, community, State of New York or the nation.

The appointment of a Distinguished Service or Teaching Professor represents a rank promotion over that of professor.

Videto and Broyles were to have been honored during the annual Distinguished Academy Dinner and Meeting scheduled for June 23 in Albany, N.Y. Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the event will be rescheduled.

STEVEN BROYLES

On the first day with his large, BIO 201 lecture class, Broyles asks each student to share their name and one unique detail about themselves.

Broyles later memorizes some 90 names and biographies only to recall them to the astonished class a few days later. The result is attentive, engaged students who will speak up in class and set higher goals in life.

“In biology, we expect students to learn an awful lot of information,” he said. “They can see that they can learn information too and be a lifelong learner.”

Broyles was nominated for his extraordinary skill as a consummate instructor, caring mentor and recognized expert in his field. Nominators noted his superb teaching is deeply rooted in his intellectual expertise and unwavering commitment to student success.

Students consistently describe Broyles as inspirational, caring, dedicated and devoted, attentive, thoughtful and constructively critical. They feel free to ask questions and are at ease and respectfully challenged in his presence.

A significant scholar in the milkweed and trillium plant species, Broyles was described by a Cornell University colleague, Anurag Agawal, as “one of the deans of milkweed reproductive biology, a scholar known for deep insight into the biology of these fascinating plants.” In 2016, Broyles became a co-principle investigator with Cornell University faculty on a $1 million National Science Foundation study to examine the development of genetic and genomic resources for milkweed, Asclepias syriaca and Asclepias curassavica.

Perhaps most impressive of his extensive community service work with his students is the tree surveys of SUNY Cortland, the city of Cortland and the town of Homer. Municipal stakeholders use the survey results to help them to secure community improvement funding.

Committed to the integration of teaching and scholarship, Broyles has mentored more than 40 students involved in undergraduate research projects at Cortland. 

He joined Cortland’s Biological Sciences Department faculty in 1992, achieving the rank of professor in 2004.

While at Cortland, Broyles was awarded the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2002 and the Rozanne Brooks Dedicated Teaching Award in 2012.

At the University of Georgia, where he earned a Ph.D. in botany, Broyles received the Excellence in Teaching Award, the Sigma Xi Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Award and the Anderson Memorial Research Award.

He becomes the 21st SUNY Cortland faculty member to achieve the Distinguished Teaching Professor rank.

DONNA VIDETO

A noted national expert in school health education, Videto is the co-author of Assessment and Planning in Health Programs, which is now in its second edition. She co-edited Promoting Health and Academic Success: The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Approach, widely considered groundbreaking within the profession. 

In addition to contributing several book chapters, Videto has published extensively in highly regarded journals such as American Journal of Health Education, Journal of School Health, The Health Educator and others. She has made more than 100 presentations at conferences and meetings of local, regional and national organizations including the American Association for Health Education, American School Health Association, Society for Public Health Education, and the American Public Health Association. 

Videto coordinated a $55,000 National Education Association Health Information Network grant for the Healthy Steps, Healthy Lives Curriculum Assessment Project from 2014 to 2016. She was a co-investigator of a funded NYS Education Department School Health Systems Change Project grant from 2009-2014, has authored or co-authored nine school curriculum and resource manuals for K-12 and has presented school health education programs throughout the state.

David Birch, former president of the Society for Public Health Education, wrote, “Dr. Videto is clearly a distinguished, national leader in health education. Through her diverse professional service, scholarship and leadership, she has made important contributions to school health education. These contributions have provided important direction and support to university faculty members, school administrators and teachers, and other stakeholders in school health and teacher education.”

Her service to SUNY Cortland’s Health Department has been significant. Videto has twice served as acting chair and was coordinator of health education student teachers from 1997 to 2003 and again in 2019. She currently chairs the Health Education Committee and the Health Education Teacher Assessment Committee.

Videto has dedicated her time to fellow faculty members across campus as well. She served on the Faculty Development Committee from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2016 to 2019. She was appointed director of the Faculty Development Center in Fall 2019.

She is in her 17th year of service as a mentor to Cortland’s Urban Recruitment of Educators (C.U.R.E.) and in her 10th year as a member of the Non-Traditional Student Support Advisory Committee.

Videto received both her B.S. and M.S. in health education from Southern Connecticut State University and her Ph.D. in health education from Pennsylvania State University. In addition to six other professional certificates, she holds a Master Certified Health Education Specialist credential from the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc.

Videto is the ninth SUNY Cortland faculty member to be promoted to the rank of Distinguished Service Professor.