Graphic Communication Professor Malcolm Keif wins the Hartman and Dennis Support of Education Award
By Sophia Lincoln
Malcolm Keif
Graphic communication Professor Malcolm Keif was awarded this year’s Hartman and Dennis Support of Education Award by the Graphic Communications Education Association (GCEA) board of directors.
The GCEA is a collaboration of educators from across the country dedicated to sharing theories, principles, techniques and processes relating to graphic communications and imaging technology.
The award annually recognizes one GCEA member “who has devoted many years of service to the association” and is nationally recognized through contributions and accomplishments in graphic arts teaching, research or service, according to the Award’s site.
Keif said that he has been involved in the association for a while, including time spent as an association conference host, association secretary and association president. He was also the lead author on the association’s Five-Year Strategic Plan.
“Collaborating with other faculty outside of Cal Poly not only strengthens my teaching at Cal Poly, but helps the graphic communication education field in general,” Keif said. “Since we are a tight-knit profession, we all support each other.”
“I think of how many senior faculty members from various universities around the country provided mentorship for me as a young professor,” he said. “Now that I am in the senior stage of my career, I plan to continue that tradition and help other [graphic communication] professors from Cal Poly and other colleges and universities’ strengthen their academic skills.”
Keif is grateful for the professional growth that GCEA has helped him achieve, as well as for the recognition of the award.
“So many people have supported me along the way, it seems natural to give back,” Keif said. “Serving in a professional organization is a terrific way to give back and my time serving on the board of directors at GCEA was wonderful.”