Professors Walter Hawthorne of the Department of History and Steven Chermak of the School of Criminal Justice were recently awarded with the William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award.
The awards will be officially given out as part of the 2024-25 Michigan State University All-University Awards ceremony on April 7. Faculty are honored with the William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award for their comprehensive and sustained record of scholarly excellence in research and/or creative activities, instruction, and outreach. The award is supported by the Office of University Advancement at MSU.
A Professor of African and Digital History, Director of Enslaved.org, and an editor of the Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation, Hawthorne has been an outstanding member of the Department of History for nearly 20 years. His research focuses on the history of Atlantic slavery and the Atlantic trade in enslaved people of African descent. In addition, he has published works on African agricultural practices, religious beliefs, and family structures in the Old and New Worlds.
“Over the past twenty years, Professor Walter Hawthorne has shown himself to be a leader in the field of African History and a dedicated teacher to undergraduates and graduates alike,” department chair Michael Stamm said. “Through his work on Enslaved.org, he has become a recognized pioneer in the field of digital humanities. The project has received more than $4 million in grant funding and has become one the most important digital and public history projects in the world.”
Enslaved.org is an on-going endeavor housed within Matrix, MSU’s digital humanities center. It accounts for the lives of named enslaved individuals of African descent in the Atlantic world, revealing their stories to scholars, educators, and genealogists.
“Enslaved.org is generating and making freely available data about the history of the slave trade that has previously been scattered and inaccessible, and it is creating new material for historians and social scientists to use to better understand one of the most important developments in the past several centuries of world history,” said Stamm. “This is a tremendous service to the field and to the public, and it continues Dr. Hawthorne’s outstanding record of scholarship and public service.”
In addition to research and teaching, Hawthorne has held a range of administrative positions at MSU. He served as graduate director in the Department of history for one year and was chair of the Department of History from 2010 to 2018. From 2018 to 2022, he was the Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs in the College of Social Science. Hawthorne also advises graduate students in the fields of African, Atlantic and digital history. MSU’s doctoral program in African history has long been one of the premier programs in the world and is ranked in the top three in US News & World Report.
Fellow recipient Steven Chermak has been a professor with the School of Criminal Justice since 2005. He primarily researches terrorism, school shootings, mass shootings, criminal justice organizations, and media coverage of crime and criminal justice. Much of his work in the last ten years has focused on terrorist and extremist activity. Chermak’s research has been funded by the Department of Homeland Security, National Institute of Justice, and the Michigan State Police. He has published two books, seven edited books, and numerous research reports. His research has also appeared in a number of journals.
Steve Chermak is a pioneering scholar whose distinguished career has significantly shaped research, teaching, and service,” said Mahesh Nala, Interim Director of the School of Criminal Justice. “He has advanced the discipline in meaningful ways and has received national awards from leading criminological organizations in recognition of his exceptional contributions. Highly regarded as one of the unit’s top instructors, he is a sought-after mentor for both graduate and undergraduate students.”
Chermak’s projects include understanding patterns of violence of far right, far left, and al-Qaeda inspired extremists, documenting how lone wolf attacks are different than group-inspired terrorist attacks, examining the characteristics of foiled terrorist plots, and methodological pieces related to the use of open source research methodologies. He has also engaged in multiple cybercrime related projects, primarily focusing on the rhetoric of far right extremists. Dr. Chermak is also a lead investigator affiliated with The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terror (START).
The MSU community is invited to celebrate the honorees at the ceremony on April 7 at 3:30 p.m. at the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center. Ten awards will be presented to 32 MSU recipients.