The 2018-2019 Polanowski Prize for Excellence in Faculty-Student Advising and Mentorship recipient is Anya Goldina, assistant professor of biology in the College’s Biology Department.
“I am honored and humbled to receive this award,” Goldina said. “Since the beginning of my career at Elizabethtown College I have heard about the incredible impact that Dr. (Frank) Polanowski had on his students, and I can only hope to be a source of such support and inspiration for my students.”
The award, in its inaugural year, is presented to an Elizabethtown College faculty member to commend and celebrate excellence in advising and mentoring students toward successful graduate school placement and/or careers.
“As a mentor, I want to help my students recognize and believe that their ideas are useful and that they can have great insights,” Goldina said. “As collaborators and students, we work on joint projects, learn together and make mistakes. For me, it’s essential that my students believe that mistakes are part of discovery and part of lifelong learning.”
Goldina earned her bachelors of science in Biology with honors from Florida International University (FIU). She also earned her Behavioral Endocrinology doctorate from FIU. Goldina also studied Crawdad Invertebrate Neurophysiology at Cornell University and has a crawdad laboratory at E-town.
“I am incredibly lucky to come to work every day and share my passion for education and science with my students,” Goldina said. “I get energy and inspiration from my students, and I hope that energy inspires them.”
About the Polonawski Prize for Excellence:
The Polanowski Prize for Excellence, which has been made possible through the generosity of Dr. Mary E. Schmidt ’79 and Dr. Russell Libby, honors Dr. Frank P. Polanowski, Associate Professor of Biology Emeritus, for his inspirational service to countless students at Elizabethtown College.
The faculty Professional Development Committee and a representative group of current students chose the recipient of the Polanowski Prize from the list of faculty members who were nominated by at least three of the following constituencies: alumni, current students, faculty, and administrators/staff.