Strout, Kruetz named presidential award winners
The University of Maine awarded two of its three top faculty honors to College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture faculty this year.
Kelley Strout, associate professor and director of the School of Nursing, and interim associate dean of health science in the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture, received the Presidential Public Engagement Achievement Award.
Strout, an alumna and member of the UMaine School of Nursing faculty since 2015, leads a dedicated group of students, faculty and staff who have been among the frontline first responders during the pandemic, deployed on campus, in communities and statewide to help meet COVID-19 testing, vaccination and emergency hospital staffing shortage needs. Community and statewide COVID-19 response, leadership in diversity, equity and inclusion, and addressing burnout and resilience in nursing are the hallmarks of Strout’s public engagement.
Karl Kreutz, director and professor of the School of Earth and Climate Sciences, received the Presidential Outstanding Teaching Award.
Kreutz is a UMaine alumnus who joined the faculty in 2000 and was named director of the School of Earth and Climate Sciences in 2021. He teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses, including a first-year Research Learning Experience course focused on geoscience from the Maine coast to Mount Katahdin. Throughout his 20-year teaching career, Kreutz has championed experiential learning and best practices into all levels of teaching, preK to graduate level.
A full story about Strout and Kreutz is on the UMaine News website.