The NDSU Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Professor Award Committee has selected Robert Littlefield, professor of communication, as the recipient of the 2009 award. Littlefield will be recognized during the Celebration of Faculty Excellence on May 6.
R.S. Krishnan, committee chair and associate vice president for academic affairs, said, “The committee was impressed with Dr. Littlefield’s distinguished record as an educator, and his exemplary service and leadership in the area of public speaking and forensics.”
In a letter of nomination, Ross Collins, associate professor of communication, praised Littlefield’s contributions in support of public speaking and debate education. “He has judged more than 200 speech tournaments, and has managed more than 150. These tournaments not only prepare young people for the critically important role of clear spoken communication in our society, but actually provide a substantial economic benefit to the communities and schools that host the tournaments,” Collins wrote, noting Littlefield has served as a presenter for several FM Communiversity classes, president of the Elim Lutheran Church Council, a Cub Scout den leader and president of NDSU’s Phi Kappa Phi chapter.
“I was honored to be nominated for this award,” Littlefield said. “As I think of previous award winners, their imprint on the community and NDSU is well known. It is humbling for me to be put into the same circle with these people that I have known and always respected. Over my roughly 30 years at NDSU, I have always taken my community role seriously. So, receiving this award from the Chamber of Commerce is a wonderful way to be recognized for that effort.”
Littlefield has written or co-written nearly 60 articles for refereed journals, six books and monographs and eight book chapters and proceedings. He also wrote “Voices on the Prairie: Bringing Speech and Theatre to North Dakota.”
A member of the Hall of Fame of the Pi Kappa Delta National Forensic Honorary, Littlefield has received many honors, including the President’s Leadership Medal from Lions Clubs International. He also has received the Wayne Brockreide Award for Research, Ralph E. Carey Award for Distinguished Career Service and Double Diamond Coach Award from the American Forensic Association. He was acknowledged with the Outstanding Educator Award from the NDSU College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and was twice named the Debate Coach of the Year by the North Dakota Speech and Theatre Association.
“Dr. Littlefield has led and participated in nearly every committee and council in the college and at the university, served for a decade as department chair and also as interim college dean,” Collins wrote. “Certainly there can be few community leaders, educators and scholars as deserving of the NDSU Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Professor Award.”
The award is designed to recognize NDSU faculty members who have attained distinction in their profession. Nominees for the honor are judged on the basis of their substantial service and or outreach contributions to the community and the region, in addition to their achievement as scholars, teachers or artists during their time at NDSU.
