Excellence in Faculty Service
Dr. Margaret Gonzalez-Perez
Excellence in Faculty Service
Dr. Margaret Gonzalez-Perez
History & Political Science Professor
In the classroom, when Margaret Gonzalez-Perez speaks, students listen, drawn by her spirited, in-depth knowledge of the topic at hand.
“Her enthusiasm for her material is contagious,” said former student Jason Husser.
“I remember the riveting student conversations about her lecture buzzed down the second
floor of Fayard Hall each day after class.
“When I began her Middle East Politics course, I didn’t know the difference between
a Sunni and a Shiite. When I finished the course, I was ready to send Donald Rumsfeld
a detailed list of considerations for Iraq post-invasion strategy.”
The teaching credentials of Gonzalez-Perez, professor of history and political science,
are impeccable; but it is her ambitious record of service for which she is being recognized
with this year’s President’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service. Her extensive
list of committee includes serving on the Faculty Senate, Departmental Tenure and
Promotion and Annual Evaluations Guidelines Committee, University Policy Committee,
Academic Affairs Committee, Center for Student Excellence Committee, and University
Diversity Task Force, just to name a few.
If that weren’t enough, she has also served her community through volunteer activities and by making numerous presentations and lectures, said Bill Robison, head of the Department of History and Political Science.
She has moderated political forums, devoted volunteer hours to the Hammond Tree Identification
Project conducted by the Southeastern Social Science Research Center, and appeared
before the Hammond City Council and the Hammond Zoning Board. She also is also faculty
advisor to “Best Buddies,” an organization associated with the National Association
for Retarded Citizens and Options.
Gonzalez-Perez defines service as “having an impact and making a difference in people’s lives -- whether that’s the lives of students, the lives of your colleagues on the faculty, or an impact on the state and its economic well-being.”
A perfect example, she recalls, is a student-athlete she had in an introductory class.
“He didn’t want to be there and made no effort. He didn’t come to class and ultimately failed,” she said. “He returned the next semester and was much more attentive. He asked questions and came to my office when he needed clarification.”
The struggling student ultimately graduated. Gonzalez-Perez wrote letters of recommendation
on his behalf when he applied to law school.
“Now he is building his career as an attorney,” she said. “He’s working in his community,
and I feel like I contributed by planting a seed in him to do bigger and better things.”
Although she enjoys serving on committees that deal with students, Gonzalez-Perez has especially enjoyed her work on the Faculty Senate. Elected in 1998 as a proxy for another senator, she has served in various capacities, including president in 2006.
“I got to know faculty across the university. Sometimes things are insular, and you
only know people in your department,” she said. “I was able to learn what was happening
in the art department, industrial technology, the library, or computer science. Their
concerns were things I never would have thought of because I don’t work in those areas.”
Gonzalez-Perez says it’s an honor to serve her colleagues and students, knowing she
plays a small role in the university’s impact on the community.
“I’ve had great role models for that -- Mary Sue Ply in English and John Yeargin in
Business, for example, have been here for decades and devoted themselves to the university.
You really see the impact they have had. They have given so much of themselves. It
makes you aspire to be like them.”
Growing up during the Watergate years, Gonzalez-Perez always had an interest in domestic
politics. However, as she became aware of how interconnected the world is, she developed
a fascination for international politics.
“In 2003 I decided to give a lecture on women terrorists for Women’s History Month
because that had been in the news so much,” she said. “I researched the topic, gave
my presentation; but it was so interesting I continued to pursue it. I wrote an article
about it, a conference paper, and then another article.”
That work led to writing a chapter in a colleague’s book and then to her own book
Women Terrorists: Female Activity in Domestic and International Terrorism, which was
published in 2008.
“This small activity mushroomed into articles and then into a book,” she said. “If
I hadn’t done that service lecture, I wouldn’t have had those opportunities. I think
service is a reward in itself, but it can also lead to other opportunities.”
