English department faculty honored at Homecoming

10/01/2015 11:00 AM

Two English faculty were recognized for contributions to Bradley University and the community at Founder’s Day celebrations.

English department Associate Chair Dr. Seth Katz received the Francis C. Mergen Award for Public Service and Dr. Devin Murphy, associate English professor, received the Caterpillar Inc. Faculty Achievement Award for Scholarship.

Katz’s work within the Peoria and Bradley Jewish communities, assistance to the University admissions office and volunteer service at Lutheran Hillside Village of Peoria earned the Mergen Award. As the University Hillel chapter adviser, he mentors more than 200 students each year and coordinates student involvement with the Jewish Federation of Peoria.

Katz also is active as a volunteer for Bradley’s admissions office, for which he meets with prospective students and serves as a resource for concerns related to Jewish life.

Additionally, Katz facilitates a short story reading group at Lutheran Hillside Village.

Murphy has published 35 short stories, 11 poems, two pieces of creative non-fiction, and an interview with novelist Jonis Agee. He has placed in five national writing contests sponsored by top-tier national publications such as the Florida Reviewer and Glimmer Train and received two Pushcart Nominations from two separate national journals.

Additionally, Murphy has been a semi-finalist in the University of Iowa’s Short Fiction Award Contest; a finalist in the Great Plains Emerging Writer Prize; a semi-finalist in the Florida Review Fiction Contest; and a second place winner in Glimmer Train’s Fiction Open.

He publishes in journals and reviews such as Chicago Quarterly, Cutthroat, Glimmer Train, Notre Dame Review, Shenandoah, Baltimore Review, Missouri Review and the New Ohio Review.