Award for Excellence in Public Service, 2020
Human Development and Family Studies
When COVID hit in March 2020, faculty, administrators and students reacted to an unprecedented series of challenges, but few worked harder over ensuing months than associate professor of human development and family studies Erin Sharp. As chair-elect of the faculty senate in spring 2020, Professor Sharp was intimately involved in the shift to fully remote learning that took place during the second half of the spring semester. Her work only intensified over the summer as she became chair and helped oversee the return to in-person learning last fall.
True to Professor Sharp’s core values, despite the added demands on her time, she never lost sight of why UNH exists: to serve students. Nowhere was this core value more apparent than in her work to help launch a fundraising effort that directed resources to students impacted by the pandemic.
Serving as faculty senate chair during a pandemic is herculean enough but maintaining other service roles on top of that is another thing entirely. Professor Sharp has continued to serve the UNH Office of Community Standards and still volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for New Hampshire CASA. Through her engaged scholarship around the state, she embodies the UNH ideal of “Embracing New Hampshire.”
The manner in which Professor Sharp models exceptional public service makes her a most fitting recipient indeed of the university’s 2020 Excellence in Public Service Award. As one of her former students said, “It is clear that she cares about spreading her desire to help others to those around her.”
About this Award
This award recognizes and honors exceptional achievements in the area of public service. Individuals who receive this award have engaged in outstanding service activities that are dependent on their academic expertise and that support the mission of the university. The types of activities to be honored should be related to a candidate's academic field and may include exceptional service to local, state or federal governments, to non-profit organizations or agencies, to business or industry, and to the university. UNH benefits-eligible faculty members are eligible, except those who have received this award within the last five years.
