Prairie Village resident wins Distinguished Faculty Award from Park University

Michael Droge, PhD, president of Park University, presented Silvia Giovanardi Byer, PhD, with the Distiguished Faculty Award.

Prairie Village resident Silvia Giovanardi Byer, Ph.D., has been honored with the Distinguished Humanities Faculty Award from Park University, where she is an associate professor of modern languages. Byer is also assistant director of the Honors Program. The award is one of two top faculty honors given by the college each year.

It is given to a faculty member who “exhibits extraordinary accomplishments in research or creative scholarship through teaching, discovery, scholarly or creative work, and service,” according to the university’s press release:

Byer epitomizes the ideal humanities scholar. Fluent in Italian, French and Spanish, she has engaged in many academic presentations and reviews and published articles in various venues on writings by authors including John Milton, Virgil, Boccacio, and biblical epic literature. In 2010, she was invited to serve a three-year term on the editorial board of the South Atlantic Review and also to collaborate on the new Chawton House Library Edition of Female Biography. She puts her scholarship into action by serving students as the Spanish Club and the Model Organization of American States sponsor.