Dr. Robert W. Compton, associate professor of Africana & Latino Studies and Political Science at SUNY Oneonta, has been awarded the college’s 2011 Susan Sutton Smith Prize for Academic Excellence. Dr. Compton will deliver the 17th annual Susan Sutton Smith Lecture, a presentation entitled “Mad Scramble for Africa: Is China Winning and the US Losing?” on Thursday, May 5, at 7 p.m. in the Craven Lounge of Morris Conference Center. Admission is complimentary, and members of the community are invited to attend the presentation.
Dr. Compton, who joined the SUNY Oneonta faculty in 2001, holds a doctorate and master’s degree from Binghamton University. At SUNY Oneonta, he teaches courses in comparative politics and international relations.
Dr. Compton’s research interests include East Asian and southern African political development, especially the links among culture,economics, and politics, and their impact on ordinary citizens. He is an editor of and contributor to “Imagining Globalization” and “Transforming East Asian Domestic and International Politics” and author of “East Asian Democratization: Impact of Globalization, Culture, and Economy.” His publications, including articles and book reviews, have appeared in the “Journal of African Policy Studies,” “Perspectives on Politics,” “International Journal on World Peace,” and “Africa Today.”
In 2008, Dr. Compton was a Fulbright Scholar and taught at the University of Zimbabwe. In 2007, he was a visiting scholar at the Center for Civil Society at the University of KwaZulu Natal in Durban, South Africa
Dr. Compton serves on the Advisory Council of the SUNY Center for International Development and assists their Legislative Fellows Program as an academic mentor. He is also the vice president of the Oneonta chapter of the United University Professions and served as the presiding officer of the SUNY Oneonta College Senate in 2007-08
Created to recognize faculty achievement outside the classroom, the Susan Sutton Smith Prize for Academic Excellence is named in honor of the late SUNY Oneonta professor of English. The prize is made possible by an endowment created through the generosity of Dr. Thomas Smith and Mrs.Mary Smith in memory of their daughter, Susan, and in honor of her commitment to academic excellence. The recipient of the prize is chosen from nominations submitted to a committee of faculty and administrators.
The Susan Sutton Smith Lecture will cap a day of events recognizing academic excellence at SUNY Oneonta. At an awards breakfast, Dr. Compton will receive the Smith Prize, and students with grade-point averages of 3.9 or above in the fall semester will be recognized with gift cards to purchase textbooks at the college store. The events and the student awards are made possible by the generous gifts of SUNY Oneonta alumni to the 2010-11 Fund for Oneonta.