Christian R. and Mary E. Lindback Foundation Award

Professor Meredith Bashaw is a tireless champion for learners and scientists of all backgrounds and levels. On campus, you are likely to find her supervising one of her many undergraduate research assistants, staying late to meet with a student, or leading a workshop about best practices in teaching for her colleagues. 

Professor Bashaw is one of the nation’s top scholars in animal welfare, particularly concerning wild animals in captivity. She has authored or co-authored more than 35 peer-reviewed articles and one highly regarded edited volume, “Scientific Foundations of Zoos and Aquariums,” published by Cambridge University Press. She has received significant grants to support her research from the Zoo and Aquarium Association Australasia and other organizations, as well as many awards for her scholarship, such as the Susan D. Chan Author of the Year Award and the Keeper Appreciation Award. 

At the same time, her department colleagues and peers across campus look to her for guidance on the development of innovative curricula and pedagogy. Professor Bashaw led the revision of the Psychology major and minor and the Animal Behavior major. She consistently seeks out training in inclusive pedagogy from national experts and then generously shares what she has learned with other professors at F&M. For example, she was selected to attend the Project Kaleidoscope STEM Leadership Institute and the American Association of Colleges and Universities’ High Impact Practices for Student Success Institute. With funding from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, she ran a summer workshop for colleagues on “Capitalizing on Diversity to Enhance the Liberal Arts Classroom Experience.” Professor Bashaw also impressed her colleagues when she was a co-leader of the Faculty Center Inclusive Teaching Workshop. Here, she helped others make their syllabi and assignments more transparent and use language that encouraged resilience among learners. With wisdom, humility, and humor, Professor Bashaw encouraged senior and junior colleagues to join her in this important work.

Professor Bashaw has high standards in her classes; she is known as a tough grader. Students describe her as “always well-prepared,” “extraordinarily engaging,” “precise,” “meticulous,” and “thorough.” Embracing the F&M ethos of student-faculty collaboration to solve real-world problems, Professor Bashaw consistently supervises students’ independent research and includes them in her own scholarly projects. 

Students and faculty across the College have benefited from Professor Bashaw’s expertise and excellence in teaching. She is a beloved mentor who truly leads by example.

Meredith Bashaw, Professor of Psychology, Christian R. and Mary E. Lindback Foundation Award

Meredith Bashaw, Professor of Psychology, Christian R. and Mary E. Lindback Foundation Award

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