Three longtime faculty and staff retire, receive honors
Mary Boros-Kazai
During her tenure, she maintained official student records, advised thousands of students in making academic decisions, answered countless questions from faculty, staff, and alumni, and supported the work of six provosts and four college presidents.
She managed the integrity of the curriculum and related academic data as the college adapted to new software systems and formats and oversaw necessary pivots to calendars, schedules, and protocols during the pandemic.
George Lisensky
Credit: Trevor JohnsonGeorge Lisensky, professor of chemistry, was the Robert H. Solem Professor in the Sciences when he retired.
Since joining the chemistry department in 1980, he has changed fields twice, moving from bioinorganic chemistry to materials science to nanoscience. He remained engaged in research in all three areas.
Most notably, Lisensky has mentored more than 100 undergraduate students in his research, resulting in many co-authored articles and new experiments that he incorporated into his courses. An international leader in nanochemistry education, he has given hundreds of workshops and conference presentations across four continents and received numerous teaching awards, including the Chemical Manufacturers Association National Catalyst Teaching Award and Beloit College Teacher of the Year.
J. Patrick Polley
Credit: Trevor JohnsonJ. Patrick Polley, professor of physics and astronomy, has wide-ranging interests, including mechanical and electromagnetic properties of material, classical archaeology, and military history.
For more than three decades, he has worked on developing and grading the Advanced Placement Physics Exam in collaboration with the College Board and the Education Testing Service. He has spent many summers preparing high school teachers to teach AP physics, the college-level physics course offered to high school students across North America.
His Beloit students speak warmly of his enormous range of knowledge in and well beyond physics. As one former student reflected, “More so than any equations or theories, in those years with Pat, I learned how to teach from one of the best.”
