{"id":23085,"date":"2023-02-14T10:14:25","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T15:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=23085"},"modified":"2023-02-15T09:12:34","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T14:12:34","slug":"making-connections-uncovering-gifts-marian-strobel-receives-james-h-smart-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/making-connections-uncovering-gifts-marian-strobel-receives-james-h-smart-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Making connections, uncovering gifts: Marian Strobel receives James H. Smart Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marian Strobel\u2019s<\/a> philosophy is simple. Love your subject matter; love your kids. This mindset is probably why the William Montgomery Burnett Professor of History was so taken aback when Cothran Center for Vocational Reflection<\/a> envoys Liz Smith<\/a> and Rolyn Rollins<\/a>, balloons in tow, announced that she\u2019d been selected to receive the James H. Smart Award<\/a>. The award recognizes those who go above and beyond toward encouraging vocational exploration and reflection in students\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was stunned,\u201d Strobel said, \u201cI didn\u2019t think I\u2019d done anything special.\u201d<\/p>\n

But others would disagree.<\/p>\n

Numerous alumni, parents and fellow faculty members wrote to express why the 41-year Furman University veteran should receive the prize named for longtime history professor (1967-1995) Jim Smart \u2013 colleague and mentor of Strobel\u2019s for 14 years.<\/p>\n

Among the accolades is one from student turned faculty member Courtney Tollison<\/a> \u201999, Furman\u2019s Distinguished University Public Historian and Scholar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would not be teaching history at Furman without Marian Strobel,\u201d Tollison said. \u201cI took \u2018Women in US History\u2019 my sophomore year. Her engaging teaching style, gift for storytelling, and her genuine concern for students drew me in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tollison\u2019s undergraduate advisor, Strobel guided her through the graduate school process as she does for so many, \u201cadvocating passionately for them and writing the best recommendation letters,\u201d Tollison wrote. After successfully defending her dissertation, Tollison came to campus to tell her mentor the good news. \u2018Congratulations! Do you want a job?\u2019 Strobel replied.<\/p>\n

Strobel\u2019s unwavering allyship for students is not lost on parents. Clinical psychologist and Tollison\u2019s father, David C. Tollison, wrote, \u201cMarian ignited in Courtney a passion for history,\u201d and \u201cwhen Marian became a mentor to Courtney, it was a role she took on for life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Furman trustee and alumna Yendelela Neely Holston<\/a> \u201903, partner and chief diversity and inclusion officer at Kilpatrick Townsend and Stockton LLP, said, \u201cDr. Strobel epitomizes the experience Furman desires for each student \u2013 a caring, engaged, phenomenal professor committed to each student\u2019s development both personally and intellectually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Savita Nair<\/a>, the Gordon Poteat Professor of Asian Studies and director of the women\u2019s, gender, and sexuality studies program, related stories about Strobel\u2019s impact as a mentor in her own career and her compassion for students.<\/p>\n

Riley Hughes \u201922, a postbaccalaureate fellow who triple majored in psychology, Africana studies, and women\u2019s, gender, and sexuality studies, found herself without parents her junior year following the death of her mother due to cancer, and her father passing when she was 4.<\/p>\n

Under the crushing weight of funeral arrangements, and the stress of juggling insurance companies, lawyers and banks, not to mention the emotional toll of losing a parent, Hughes was buoyed by \u201cTeam Riley\u201d made up of Strobel, Nair and Lynne Shackelford, now emeritus professor of English. Together, they waded through the details and made calls on Hughes\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s those kinds of connections that are most meaningful to Strobel, who recently received word that Hughes had been accepted to a specialized post-graduate program at the University of Michigan. \u201cI\u2019m just thrilled for her,\u201d Strobel said.<\/p>\n

Strobel spoke about helping students weigh options such as what major to pursue, internships, graduate school and the like. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s a matter of asking the right questions \u2013 what are your hopes and dreams?\u201d she mused.<\/p>\n

One student in particular, Tomiko Brown-Nagin<\/a> \u201992, couldn\u2019t decide between a history Ph.D. and law school, Strobel remembers. \u201cI said, \u2018Apply to both and see what happens.\u2019 Well, she ended up getting both a Ph.D. and J.D.\u201d Brown-Nagin is a professor of law and history at Harvard University.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy sense is you have to have a passion for something. And that, I think, is a great gift,\u201d Strobel added.<\/p>\n

She should know, as it\u2019s clear in her nearly 50 years of teaching, Strobel has found hers.<\/p>\n

Quincy Mix \u201919 described Strobel as \u201csomething of a legend in the history department.\u201d Mix, operations advisor at New York- based Sloane and Company, noted Strobel\u2019s artful way of using history\u2019s \u201cflawed men and women\u201d to teach students how to be \u201cmeasured, balanced and compassionate\u201d surveyors of the past. \u201cShe invited us to consider what virtues and strengths to cultivate in ourselves as we work to understand our own times and meet the needs of a struggling world,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Mix recounted how generous Strobel was with her time outside of class, lending an ear and lifting confidence when doubts crept in.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a professor, scholar and professional trailblazer, she is inspiring,\u201d Mix wrote. \u201cShe is a true model of grit, tenacity, gravitas and down-to-earth common sense for all who want to think seriously about their lives and chuckle along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Strobel has been a blessing to me. To know and learn from her has been an incredible honor, and Furman would not be the same without her and the amazing lifetime of service she has given to students.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several alumni, parents and faculty describe why the 41-year Furman veteran is deserving of the Jim Smart Award from the Cothran Center for Vocational Reflection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":257,"featured_media":23089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,99,3,56,88,31,42,35,48,61,93],"tags":[265,1868,814,1867,1314],"class_list":["post-23085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-department-page","category-africana-studies","category-alumni","category-asian-studies","category-cothran-center-for-vocational-reflection","category-english","category-history","category-parent-news","category-psychology","category-the-furman-advantage","category-womens-gender-and-sexuality-studies","tag-cothran-center-for-vocational-reflection","tag-jim-smart","tag-mentorship","tag-vocational-exploration","tag-vocational-reflection"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/257"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}