More than 470 faculty and staff members will be recognized at the Service Awards Ceremony
at 3 p.m., Wednesday, March 27, in the University Union, Ballroom 314 for their milestone
anniversaries in calendar year 2023. Five faculty and staff members will be honored
as the longest-serving this year with 40, 45, 50 and 55 years of service.
See the complete list of all UNT staff and faculty who celebrated milestone anniversaries
in 2023.
Gopala “GG” Ganesh
University Distinguished Teaching Professor of Marketing
Gopala “GG” Ganesh has dedicated four decades at UNT to shaping the minds of future
marketers.
He received his Ph.D. in business administration with a focus in marketing from the
University of Houston. While finishing his dissertation, he began teaching at UNT
in the marketing department. Since 1983, GG has been developing creative ways to facilitate
growth for both his students and the greater community.
Twenty-four years ago, he began creating the foundations for the first Marketing Metrics
course in the United States. In 2003, he became one of the first professors in the
nation to teach that course entirely online. He says this AMA-award winning course
is his greatest academic achievement. It has boomed in enrollment from about 45 students
in its first semester to more than 570 students in 2023. Other universities have started
offering similar courses only in the past 5 to 10 years.
“I was able to create something out of nothing — there was no previous model for such
a course that I could follow,” he says. “I came up with the concept of the course
and its entire content based on my ideas.”
In 2006, GG created an online MBA class in Advanced Marketing Research Analytics.
Every time it is offered, this class has included a research project to serve public
institutions in DFW. He received the Community Engagement Award in 2023 based on this
service. He also was awarded the UNT Foundation’s University Distinguished Teaching
Professorship in 2010.
Over the years, he has seen UNT grow substantially in enrollment and diversity. He
reflects on the greatness of his work environment.
“The support I've received from the university has been very strong,” he says. “I've
certainly enjoyed being at UNT, and the total freedom that I have experienced in my
creative endeavors is what keeps me going.”
Gerald Knezek
Regents Professor of Learning Technologies
Gerald Knezek started as a computer science lecturer at UNT in 1983 and was awarded
Regents Professor status in 2008. In addition to teaching in the Department of Learning
Technologies, he serves as the director of the Institute for the Integration of Technology
into Teaching and Learning at UNT.
As a Fulbright Scholar in Japan, Ecuador and the Netherlands, Knezek has a wide range
of scholarly experiences. Before becoming a UNT professor, he earned a B.A. in mathematics
and social sciences from Dartmouth College, and M.Ed. and Ph.D. degrees in educational
psychology from the University of Hawaii.
Knezek stands as a pillar of his department at UNT. In 2018, he was a co-recipient
of the Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education Outstanding Research Paper Award. His primary research interests are in attitude
measurement, scaling and conceptual foundations of motivation and learning with a
special focus on technology integration.
“His passion and dedication for improving the learning experiences of students has
made a positive impact on so many lives,” says Dean Kinshuk of the College of Information.
“His illustrious career at UNT provides a role model for all of us.”
Philip J. Lewis
Professor of Violin
Before his time as a professor, violinist Philip Lewis was the concertmaster at the
Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and was named Artist of the Year by the city of Pasadena,
California.
It was his love for teaching violin that led him to pursue a career in higher learning.
He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees and completed coursework and recitals
for a doctoral degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. He joined UNT as a violin
and chamber music professor and an artist violinist. For the last 45 years, he has
dedicated his career to teaching highly gifted students.
“I've grown with the school and helped the school to grow,” Lewis says. “I love these
students — there is a real feeling of family here at UNT.”
The sought-after musician has performed with symphonies around the world. He’s often
been a soloist with the UNT Symphony Orchestra, performing concertos by Brahms, Glazunov,
Mailman, Mozart, Saint-Saens, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky, as well as the Ravel Tzigane.
In 1986, he founded Chamber Music International, which is considered one of the finest
Chamber Music Series in the world today. Lewis says this is his biggest accomplishment.
Jean Schaake
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Though Jean Schaake's current role is leading the CLASS curriculum development team
and overseeing advising for the college, she was originally drawn to teaching. She
earned three degrees — from St. Olaf College, the University of Pennsylvania and the
University of Florida — then settled in Denton 50 years ago to teach chemistry at
UNT. But her career took a unique path, allowing her to grow into curriculum development
for undergraduate- and graduate-level courses and working with faculty to create new
degrees and programs.
Eventually, she also began overseeing and developing the growing area of student advising
within the college.
“Dr. Jean Schaake has been the quintessential citizen of our Mean Green community
for so many years,” CLASS Dean Albert Bimper says. “Her passion and commitment to
student success is nothing short of contagious. She has touched countless lives throughout
her decades of service, leaving no doubt that her legacy as a difference maker is
cemented in the heart and soul of the University of North Texas."
While at UNT, Schaake has witnessed tremendous progress as the university has become
integral in the DFW area as a provider of educational opportunities. She is proud
of UNT's growth in national prominence with nationally and internationally recognized
programs and its role in economic development in the region.
Martin D. Yaffe
Professor of Philosophy and Religion
Martin D. Yaffe has always strived to answer life’s greatest questions.
Starting at UNT in 1968, his career as a professor of philosophy and religion is still
going strong 55 years in.
"After all of these years, he still loves teaching undergraduates about 'old books',
as he likes to call them — and he still publishes like his job depended on it!" says
David Kaplan, chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion.
Yaffe, whose research interests include political philosophy and Jewish thought, earned
a B.A. in honors philosophy and history from the University of Toronto and a Ph.D.
in philosophy from Claremont Graduate University. He’s published books and journal
articles, including the coedited volume Reorientation: Leo Strauss in the 1930s and the review article “Defending National Loyalty: Yoram Hazony on Nationalism.”
His current works include a translation of Francis Bacon’s New Organon, a book crucial to the founding of modern science and technology, as well as a co-translation
of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s Nathan the Wise, a play with a theme of religious tolerance.
