Professor of Entrepreneurship Mark Hoelscher of the College of Business has been named the recipient of the Outstanding University Service Award. Assistant Professor of Psychology Leandra Parris and Assistant Professor of Theatre Robert Quinlan have both been named the Service Initiative Award winners.
The three will be honored at the annual Founders Day Convocation at 2 p.m., Thursday, February 15, in the Brown Ballroom of the Bone Student Center.
Mark Hoelscher
Hoelscher is the director of the George R. and Martha Means Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, and co-director of the ISU Coleman Fellows for the Department of Management and Quantitative Methods. He joined the department in 2002.
Hoelscher was named director of the George R. and Martha Means Center for Entrepreneurial Studies in 2010. Uniquely suited for entrepreneurial scholarship, Hoelscher worked in agriculture, transportation, and real estate prior to earning his graduate degrees. He founded the Coleman Fellows, a grant-funded cross-disciplinary team of entrepreneurially-oriented faculty across campus.
Hoelscher has served on the Academic Senate for more than 10 years, and contributed to numerous committees and search committees. He has worked with students on numerous projects, including co-founding the 2014 “Redbird Hacks.” Hoelscher also implemented and leads the annual Entrepreneur of the Year Awards banquet, chairs the Means Center planning committee for Startup Showcase, implemented the Means Center Accelerator Fund for student startup businesses, and is partnering with Millikin University, Pontiac High School, and Illinois State University to support high school students interested in starting their own companies through the Celebrating High School Innovators Program.
Leandra Parris
Parris joined the Department of Psychology in 2013. In addition to the traditional service roles of faculty members, Parris’ service philosophy includes an emphasis on early career committees and service-minded research. She serves as a board member and treasurer of ReBound, a community-based nonprofit organization that oversees mentorship services in local middle schools, providing ISU students with training opportunities in bullying prevention. Within the Department of Psychology, Parris has coordinated School Psychology Institute Day, is a representative on the Institutional Review Board and serves on numerous committees. She has also been active in numerous community initiatives in mental health, the ReBound Mentorship Program, and has co-advised the Side-by-Side RSO.
Robert Quinlan
An alumnus of Illinois State, Quinlan returned to the University in 2015. He serves as head of the MFA Directing Program, working closely with graduate students. He also teaches and mentors undergraduate students interested in directing. Quinlan assisted with the school’s program review and was instrumental in creating the school’s first assessment plan. He has served on school and college committees, the Dean’s Strategic Planning Committee, and serves on the Friends of the Arts board and the Graduate Council. In collaboration with Languages, Literatures and Cultures Chair Bruce Burningham, Quinlan received grant funding to bring the School of Theatre and Dance’s production of The Heresy of Love to the Spanish Golden Age Drama Festival in El Paso, Texas. He also received grant funding to present his professional production of The Amish Project, coordinating workshops and talkbacks about the play’s themes of violence and forgiveness. Quinlan is active in the Society of American Directors and Choreographers, serves as the Associate Artistic Director of Illinois Shakespeare Festival, and is a member of the Artistic Collective at Arkansas Shakespeare Theater.
