In This Story
George Mason University’s Amarda Shehu and Leah Adams were among the 12 educators from around the state who were formally recognized by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) with 2022 Outstanding Faculty Awards.
Shehu, a professor in the Department of Computer Science within the College of Engineering and Computing, and Adams, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and Women and Gender Studies Program, were among the recipients chosen for their superior accomplishments in teaching, research and public service.
Shehu received the Outstanding Faculty Award. Adams received the Rising Star Award reserved for faculty with more than two complete years of full-time experience, but less than six. Beginning in 2010, two Rising Star recipients have been selected annually.
Adams and Shehu became Mason’s 26th and 27th overall selections since the inception of the Outstanding Faculty Awards in 1987. They will be recognized at a ceremony on March 1 in Richmond.
They both recently sat down with Communications Manager John Hollis to talk about the honor.
What does this recognition by SCHEV mean to you and what does it mean for your work?
Shehu: I think it’s a very well-rounded review of your research, teaching, mentorship, and service. … I [also] think it’s a recognition of the role that we play, the opportunity that we have to shape the lives of our students and to steer students along. I’ve always been driven by putting people first and helping my students in any way, whether it was by leading them or cheering them along. I’ve always been a champion of my students. So this is what the award means to me—recognition of the responsibility we have, the privilege that we have, to turn stories of difficulty and hardship into stories of persistence and success. Our students are getting a great life lesson that will serve them even after they leave the university.
Adams: For me, winning this award feels a little like a full-circle moment because, when I was a fourth-grader moving to Virginia, I knew immediately the impact that my teachers were having. To be able to now be in a place where I’m being recognized for the impact I’m trying to have on students just feels really amazing. It was very unexpected, but it does feel really nice. As far as my work, I think it will help bolster some of the projects I’m working on. I’m working on a couple of research projects that are specifically focused on Virginia, so it highlights the work I’m doing.
Tell me a little bit about your research and why is it potentially significant?
Shehu: I’m a computer scientist, but, in my training, I was exposed to interdisciplinary research, and I have really kept that focus, even here at Mason. I am a firm believer that real-world problems are the ones that give us the most challenging questions [and] also inspire us and motivate us to design new computational methodologies, new algorithms. I’ve always looked to make an impact beyond computer science, to improve health and other aspects of the human condition. So it’s always been computing in the service of something greater. That has always been my philosophy.
Adams: My research sits at the intersection of a lot of different areas. I’m a clinical psychologist by training, but I’ve always brought in ideas and concepts that expand beyond psychology. So my work [is] trying to understand how people can improve the quality of their lives—mostly folks who are dealing with chronic illnesses or who are at risk for illness or living with acquired disability. How can we maximize quality of life, maximize creating a life that is valuable and meaningful to them? One of the two places where my work can be helpful is in that real-world applied aspect. It’s also multidisciplinary, and it really highlights that—to solve those big problems—we have to be thinking together and working collaboratively.
What has been the biggest obstacle you’ve faced in your research and how have you managed to overcome those obstacles?
Shehu: There are many challenges for a researcher, but I think self-doubt is probably the biggest challenge. Everything else is outside, but self-doubt is probably the most difficult, because it’s inside of you. You get better at it over time. It’s not that you’re NOT going to have it, but you point yourself to your experiences and your past accomplishments, and you convince yourself that you can do it again.
Adams: One of the biggest obstacles is we don’t have a medical school, and so much of my research is focused on folks who have medical conditions. The way that I’ve overcome that is the way that I’ve tried to overcome everything—that is, finding collaborators, finding other folks to kind of put our heads together and work through.
Did you always know that you wanted to be an educator?
Shehu: I always knew I wanted to be a scientist. I remember in high school telling one of my friends that if I ever became somebody who sat in front of his computer 10 hours a day, I would not be happy. But I’m happy to say I’m NOT sitting 10 hours a day in front of my computer. What I actually enjoy and have been very good at is working with people, with my collaborators and with my students.
Adams: Absolutely not. I always thought that I was going to be a journalist. As a child, I was the one kid who was watching “20/20.” I was like “Barbara Walters is everything.” I loved Barbara Walters, I loved the interviews and all those kinds of things.
Can you tell me something about you that people wouldn’t know just from reading your bio?
Shehu: I am very much into fitness. I find that exercise is very effective at blocking other pain pathways, which tend to accumulate as you advance in age Lately, since the pandemic started, I have gotten much more into running. When I run, I like to mix it up in my music choices, mainly international music and European pop. Lately, I have started to listen more to African American gospel music. The music does a great deal to distract me from the aches and pains of running. And there is just so much history and culture in those songs that, being raised in a different country, I have completely missed on. I am catching up.
Adams: I’m very into baking, and I think I even take a scientific approach in that. I have so many cookbooks. I’m like a lot of people who like to cook—you just collect them, and you don’t actually cook out of them. I’ve started a year of cooking where every week I’m going to cook a different recipe in one of my cookbooks. But I’m also rating it on a quality scale of 0 to 10 and keeping notes about how to improve it. I’ve already done four weeks.