Dr. Alok Deoraj, senior instructor in the department of Environmental Health Sciences and graduate program director for the Master of Public Health (MPH), is the 2019 recipient of the FIU Faculty Award for Excellence in Service.
“I feel honored and thrilled to be recognized for excellence in service award this year among my esteemed group of worlds’ ahead colleagues in the whole FIU,” said Deoraj.
Presented by the Office of the Provost, the Excellence in Service Award is given to one deserving faculty member each year who has shown merit and dedication, at the college, university and community levels.
At the department level, Deoraj provided stability during curricular and leadership changes for the last several years and played a pivotal role in student recruitment and retention. Along with his colleagues, he received grants to help integrate graduate students’ in their scholarly pursuits as well as developed one of the most popular Global learning (GL) foundations courses in public health, Health Without Border, a global public health course for undergraduates. The process of the development of this GL coursewas recently featured in a podcast on the FIU’s Global Learning Initiative .
At the college level, he served on the strategic planning committee, curriculum committees, Stempel Path Award committees as well as numerous search and screen committees to hire faculty and staff. Deoraj, as a chair of the committee, led a college wide effort to establish scholarship award structure for fairness and transparency and guided the online application and review process. He also led and helped relaunch the fully Online Master of Public Health program. Moreover, University Graduate School and the faculty senate applauded his exemplary service as the chair of the Graduate Council for 3-consecutive academic years. Additionally, Deoraj serves on the Institutional Review Board as an alternate member and has participated as in the university-wide initiative to design and develop evaluation methods for teaching excellence. He was also the recipient of 2017 faculty award for excellence in teaching.
Deoraj is a volunteer faculty advisor of the Environmental Health Sciences Student Association (EHSA) and is currently guiding undergraduates to establish a student chapter of the Doctors Without Borders organization in FIU.
“My main philosophy to serve is to create environments of learning for our students’ excellence and their personal and professional fulfillment,” Deoraj continued.
In the community, Deoraj made career day presentations in local schools and promoted STEM disciplines, raised awareness of gentle cancer treatment for children by participating in 5K runs ( I Care I cure foundation ), and promoted public health profession by engaging K-12 students in Wertheim conferences . He also serves as an academic editor of a professional journal and reviews manuscripts for publications.
“I am very pleased and proud to see Dr. Deoraj received this award from the Office of the Provost. Dr. Deoraj is a dedicated instructor and Graduate Program Director who goes extra mile to enroll, retain and motivate students to graduate in a timely manner,” said Kim Tieu, chair of the Environmental Health Sciences department at Stempel College. “His excellent service to the department, college and university truly qualifies him to be the most deserving candidate for this highly selective award.”