2008 Faculty Senate University Service Award: Lanthan Camblin

"As faculty, we have the unique situation in which we have not just the opportunity, but an obligation to affect the minds and spirits of our students and those around us. Not everybody has that opportunity with their job, and I think faculty are very aware of that obligation and take their jobs very seriously."

– Lanthan Camblin Jr.

Lanthan Camblin Jr. says he was raised with the expectation that one must work toward the betterment of people. It’s that tireless dedication that has merited Camblin, a professor of education, with the 2008 Faculty Award for Exemplary Service to the University of Cincinnati.

Camblin joined the UC College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH) in 1980. He is currently a member of the Academy of Fellows for Teaching and Learning and a member of the Faculty Senate Human Relations Committee.

His leadership roles at the university also include serving as a long-time member of the Faculty Senate and chair of the Faculty Senate from 1994-1996, during which he is credited with leading the development of the All-University Faculty Retreat on Nov. 1, 1995. It was on that day that daytime classes were cancelled, while 85 faculty members made presentations to hundreds of attendees on the theme, "Taking Teaching and Learning Into the Next Century."

Camblin was also the founder and organizer of the Ohio Faculty Council, a statewide group of faculty chairs at Ohio’s two-and-four-year colleges and universities. He served as president of the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services Senate from 1986-1988.

Previous leadership roles also include serving as a faculty member on the Board of Trustees and co-chair of UC’s Just Community Principles Committee. "Related to his commitments to students of color at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, Lanthan has demonstrated uncommon commitment to the university’s Just Community initiative," writes Mitchel D. Livingston, UC vice president of Student Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer. "Not only has Lanthan been committed to the language of social justice, his passion is for social action for the common good."

"Faculty, I believe, are committed to creating an inclusive and embracing environment," says Camblin. "I think they’re always looking for ways to expand who we are and what we do.

"As faculty, we have a great deal of different responsibilities and missions, and sometimes the service component is overlooked as an important aspect of that commitment, and then I think as a group, we always come back to that commitment to change. I think that’s what we’re all about," Camblin says.

"Professor Camblin’s passion for and commitment to justice and fair treatment of all is evidenced by his enormous contribution of time and energy to these causes," writes UC Associate Professor Marla Hall. "Further, his effectiveness in these causes can be seen in some of the recognition he has received for his work. He has been honored by many groups including the AACRC; the AAUP; the Racial Awareness Program; the UC Black Association of Administrators, Faculty and Staff; the UC Alumni Association; CECH and the university."

Camblin was also the university’s 1987 recipient of the A.B. "Dolly" Cohen Award, UC’s most prestigious award for teaching. Previous awards also include the Faculty of the Year Award from the Alumni Association, the Dillwyn E. Ratcliff Distinguished Service Award in the Cause of Academic Freedom from the AAUP and the Margaret Core Tangeman Award for Human Dignity and Equality.

"What really excites me about this university is that in all of the good ways, it is an urban institution," Camblin says. "As a faculty member, I have had opportunities to enjoy diversity in its broadest definition, and I’ve had opportunities to assume leadership roles and to join with other individuals wanting to affect change. And because it’s an urban institution, I think there’s vitality to this university that doesn’t exist in so many other places. I see it every day."