ASU difference maker builds global impact, characters – in Chinese

Professor Madeline Spring has been selected to receive the 2014 Gary S. Krahenbuhl Difference Maker Award presented by ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The annual award was established through generous contributions of faculty, staff and friends of ASU to recognize and celebrate a faculty member who personifies the spirit of difference-making demonstrated by Krahenbuhl, a former dean of the college.

A distinguished professor of Chinese, Spring is the director of the Chinese Language Program in the School of International Letters and Cultures. Her research endeavors include the study of medieval Chinese literature and current issues in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (TCFL). In that area, her focus is on curricular design and implementation, teacher training, computer-based instruction, intercultural communication and second language acquisition and assessment. She is the author of "Making Connections: Improve Your Listening Comprehension in Chinese," now in its second edition.

Spring also is the director of two important institutional programs at ASU: the Confucius Institute and the Chinese Language Flagship program. The former is a partnership with Sichuan University and, unlike many Confucius Institutes, has a pronounced academic orientation and works closely with ASU faculty members, community groups and K-12 education. The latter is designed to move students to superior levels of Chinese language proficiency during their time at ASU.

“Professor Spring has transformed ASU and our state, creating programs that set up our students at ASU and in Arizona to be among the top professionals in their chosen career fields, internationally,” said Patrick Kenney, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“Madeline Spring is that kind of rare difference maker in academia: a faculty member who energizes programs for the community along with top performance in the classroom and in her research,” said George Justice, dean of humanities in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “Because of Dr. Spring, students can come to ASU with no experience in Chinese and have their lives transformed personally and professionally. Her direct impact on campus and community is remarkable.”

ASU’s Chinese Language Flagship is part of a network of 26 programs at 22 universities across the United States. Eleven of these are for Chinese. Due to her experience and talents, Spring was recruited to create a program at ASU that offered multi-level, intensive curricula for ASU undergraduates who seek to achieve superior professional-level language proficiency and advanced cultural skills in Chinese. In 2012, Flagship program added an ROTC component, making it one of three in the U.S. and the only one in the West. This program reaches out to highly motivated students of all majors in Army, Navy and Air Force ROTC whose schedules might previously have prevented the development of their critical language skills. These efforts are funded by the Department of Defense and National Security Education Program.

Under the leadership of ASU President Michael Crow, the Confucius Institute was developed by professor Stephen H. West, Spring and Cutter in partnership with Sichuan University and the Office of Chinese Language Council International. The institute supports numerous scholarly activities, provides language instructors to supplement those already teaching in the Chinese language program and works to enhance understanding about China and promote K-12 language training more broadly in Arizona. The institute now cooperates with partner schools, such as Boulder Creek High School, Cactus Shadows High School, Diamond Canyon School, Gavilan Peak School, Horseshoe Trails Elementary School, Lone Mountain Elementary School, Rhodes Junior High School and Sonoran Trails Middle School. Spring has also worked with community groups, as well as school districts and the Arizona Department of Education.

“Professor Spring has developed the Chinese language program at ASU into one of the best in the country,” said Joe Cutter, director of the School of International Letters and Cultures. “Students come to ASU from outside Arizona specifically to be part of this program. She has made a huge difference in our students’ lives. It is truly heartwarming to hear these outstanding young people talk about their achievements and their sense of gratitude to professor Spring.”

The Gary S. Krahenbuhl Difference Maker Award has been awarded since 2003 to a tenured faculty member in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences “who demonstrates a broad vision for academic scholarship and a passion for engaging students in discovery and exploration.”

Spring is the 12th recipient of the award. Prior recipients are:

• Stuart Lindsay, Regents’ Professor, Edward and Nadine Carson Presidential Chair in Physics, director of the Center for Single Molecule Biophysics in the Biodesign Institute. He is a professor in the Department of Physics and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (2012).

• Donald Johanson, Virginian M. Ullman Chair in Human Origins, a professor of physical anthropology in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change and founding director of the Institute of Human Origins (2012).

• Matthew Whittaker, ASU Foundation Professor in History and founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy – now with the School of Letters and Sciences (2011).

• Heather Bimonte-Nelson, a professor in the Department of Psychology, honored in part for her brain awareness programs for children (2010).

• Stephen Batalden, a professor of history and the founding director of ASU’s Melikian Center for Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies (2009).

• Neal Woodbury, a professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry, and deputy director of ASU’s Biodesign Institute (2008).

• Nancy Jurik, a professor of justice and social inquiry in the School of Social Transformation (2007).

• Jane Maienschein, a Regents’ Professor and President's Professor, and director of the Center for Biology and Society in the School of Life Sciences (2006).

• James Collins, a professor in the School of Life Sciences (2005).

• Noel Stowe, a professor of history and founder of ASU’s Public History Program, deceased (2004).

• Richard Fabes, director of the School of Social and Family Dynamics (2003).