Malloy, Shumaker, Kelley Win Hoyt Purvis Awards for Aiding International Programs

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Camilla Shumaker (right) is honored with the Hoyt Purvis Award for a university staff member who contributes to the success of international students by Fran Hagstrom, interim associate dean of international education.

The Graduate School and International Education honored three U of A staff and faculty members with the 2022 Hoyt H. Purvis Award for Service in International Education. The award recognizes a university faculty member, a university staff member and a staff member of the Graduate School and International Education for their outstanding service to the field of international education.

The winners were:

• GSIE staff member: Sarah Malloy, Office of Study Abroad
• University staff member: Camilla Shumaker, University Information Technology Services
• University faculty member: Christopher Kelley, School of Law

The three were honored at the opening ceremony Nov. 14 for International Education Week.

"It is such an honor to recognize these three individuals who embody the passion that Hoyt Purvis had for international education during his time at our university," said Fran Hagstrom, interim associate dean of international education. "These individuals recognize the transformational impact of international education on our campus, as well as the importance of our university engaging across the globe to help improve the world around us. I want to thank them all for their service to our unit and our university."

Sarah Malloy

Sarah Malloy has served as the director of study abroad since 2019, where she leads the university's education abroad activities, including study, research, internships and independent study abroad for undergraduate and graduate students. She led the office as it navigated the difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic, which halted international travel, and has helped lead a resurgence of study abroad participation on campus similar to its pre-pandemic numbers.

Sarah Malloy, right, receives the Hoyt Purvis Award for Service in International Education from Fran Hagstrom.

"One particular area where I saw Sarah truly shine was during the early stages of the COVID pandemic," the award nomination stated. "In the midst of tremendous uncertainty, Sarah stood out as a leader. She balanced her desire to see our students fulfill their goals of studying abroad with a genuine concern for their safety and security, and I know that leadership and insights were well-received and very much respected."

Malloy was also celebrated for her passion and advocacy for international education and her tireless work to create opportunity for U of A students to pursue educational opportunities abroad.

"I've had the pleasure of working with Sarah over the past several years, and I've been consistently impressed by her passion for international education and her genuine love of working with our students," the award nomination stated. "You just need to talk with her one time to see how much she values the mission of her office and how her eyes light up when speaking of the value of providing our students with these opportunities. And as an avid traveler herself, she clearly practices what she preaches."

"I consider Sarah to be a valued colleague and a friend, and the University of Arkansas community is lucky to have her," the nomination stated.

Camilla Shumaker

Camilla Shumaker serves as the director of business application services in University Information Technology Services. During her time in UITS, Shumaker helmed a project with the Office of Study Abroad to digitize the office's paper-based credit pre-approval system, an effort that involved "hundreds of hours" of work, according to the award nomination form.

Following the system's successful launch in February, Shumaker has continued to assist the Office of Study Abroad in maintaining the system and addressing issues as they occur, even as her role in UITS has expanded. 

"I cannot [over]state how huge this project was and continues to be, as I only know of one other institution who has been able to successfully make their own homegrown technological course approval system work," the award nomination stated. "The fact that [our system] is successful is an absolute reflection of Camilla, the time that she took to understand the process and its complexities, the research that she did to uncover best practices and the determination that she expressed daily to get this off the ground. Over the course of 16 months, Camilla has become an honorary study abroad member and a close friend to us all."

Christopher Kelley

Christopher Kelley is an associate professor of law in the university's School of Law, where he has spent time teaching internationally in Europe and beyond, particularly in Ukraine. He serves as a nonresident professor at the Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University Law Faculty in Kyiv, Ukraine, where he teaches legal writing in English in addition to other topics.

Christopher Kelley receives the Hoyt Purvis Award for Service in International Education from Fran Hagstrom.

He is a two-time Fulbright Scholar — once in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in 2005 and again in Chisinau in the Republic of Moldova in 2011. He teaches at various universities, law firms and nongovernmental organizations in Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus, in addition to teaching in Lithuania, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation. He was the first American law professor to teach at the Belarusian State University Law Faculty in Minsk, Belarus.

Additionally, Kelley has served on numerous international organizations including the American Bar Association Section of International Law, where he was a co-chair of the section's 2019 International Legal Exchange program in Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus. Previously he was a co-chair of the section's International Legal Education and Specialist Certification Committee and the section's Deputy Rule of Law Officer, in addition to other areas of service.

"Professor Christopher Kelley has an incredible career of accomplishments in international education and a deep commitment to promoting mutual understanding between peoples of all nations," the award nomination stated.