Mason professor wins highest honor for Virginia university faculty

Another George Mason University professor has been professionally recognized for excellence in her field.

On Feb. 12, Dr. Rita Chi-Ying Chung received the 2013 Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia along with Dominion Resources.

According to the SCHEV website, the Outstanding Faculty Award is Virginia’s highest honor for faculty at in-state universities. The awards recognize faculty for exceptional teaching, research and public service. One of 12 recipients this year, Chung was selected from over 100 statewide applicants.

Chung, professor of counseling and development in the College of Education and Human Development, said she loves her job.

“I enjoy being in the classroom and challenging students to help them grow to their maximum potential,” Chung said. “The students are marvelous and hungry for information.”

Born in New Zealand and growing up in Hong Kong, Chung struggled to learn English as a second language. Yet Chung’s teachers inspired her.

“My teachers told me to believe in myself and never give up,” Chung said.

Just as she was challenged by her teachers, Chung is demanding the same of her

Dr. Rita Chi-Ying Chung has received the 2013 Outstanding Faculty Award (photo courtesy of the College of Education and Human Development).

students.

“I push my students because I want them to be the best counselors out there,” Chung said. “I want my students to have courage, take risks and create change in this world.”

Chung’s students genuinely respect and appreciate her as a professor.

Senior Tiffany Jones is a counseling and development major who took Chung’s multiculturalism and social justice course.

“Dr. Chung has inspired me to educate others on multiculturalism, its effects on our communities, and the paralleling social justice concerns,” Jones said in an email.

Diana Ortiz, a graduate student in counselor education, is currently being advised by Chung, who also taught her in several masters-level courses.

“(Chung) truly walks the talk,” Ortiz said in an email. “What she says is what she does, and there is nothing more inspirational than seeing actions, not only promises or theories.”

Before attending college, Chung traveled to rural provinces in the Philippines, building trust with local villagers. She was struck by the poverty she witnessed. Chung remembers talking to a mother in the village who explained how she could afford either food or hygiene items for her family but not both.

“I didn’t know what to do or say, and I almost burst into tears,” Chung said. “I was only 18 years old.”

This direct encounter with poverty opened Chung’s eyes to the world around her and motivated her to pursue social justice through counseling.

Currently, Chung conducts fieldwork with refugee communities in Burma and researches the trafficking of Asian girls.

Although much of Chung’s scholarship focuses on international issues, she seeks to redirect her focus to local concerns.

“As an immigrant myself, I want to help immigrant children and adolescents in Northern Virginia,” Chung said.

Chung said she is humbled and deeply honored by her recent award.

“Looking back, I would have never dreamed that I would be where I am now,” Chung said.