Grace College professors, from left, Dr. Pat Loebs, Dr. Lindsey Richter and Jeff Grose were honored recently for their contributions to the institution’s culture of service and academic excellence. Photos provided.

News Release

WINONA LAKE — Grace College professors Dr. Pat Loebs, Dr. Lindsey Richter and Jeff Grose were honored recently for their contributions to the institution’s culture of service and academic excellence.

Dr. Pat Loebs, associate professor of communication, received the Alva J. McClain Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Since Loebs arrived at Grace in 2013, he has led the communication program through considerable growth, revamping the program’s course check sheet, adding a number of specialized majors and minors and helping establish a study abroad program for international communication minors in Budapest, Hungary. But above all of these things, Loebs is recognized as an exceptional professor.

“As his colleague and chair, I think one of the secrets to Pat’s success is that he treats his students as adults; he sets the bar high for them while also showing them that what they have to say, and how they say it, matters deeply,” said Dr. Lauren Rich, chair of the Department of Humanities. “He supports and respects his students without coddling them. The best evidence of the impact of his teaching may be the successful careers of so many of his recent graduates.”

Dr. Lindsey Richter received the Ronald E. Manahan Award for Service.

As the director of the Institute of Global Studies, the director of Modern Languages and the school’s only French faculty member, Richter has put in an inordinate amount of work over the past two-and-a-half years. According to her colleagues, Richter’s work has had a transformative impact on Grace’s students as she daily lives out Christ’s call to love our neighbors and serve the nations.

“While we’ve all dealt with disruptions, Lindsey has probably experienced more COVID-related challenges in her position than any other Grace faculty member,” said Rich. “Long before COVID arrived in our county, Lindsey and her office were making difficult decisions about Go Encounter Trips and Study Abroad and communicating empathetically with students and parents. Her competence, flexibility, patience and good humor have allowed her to navigate the most difficult situations with grace. She is a strong and effective advocate for global studies at Grace, and I can’t imagine anyone else who could have steered the institute through unimaginable circumstances.”

The Excellence in Part-Time Teaching Award was presented to Jeff Grose who has served as a part-time instructor for the history and political science program for more than a decade.

Grose brings more than 30 years of experience in the classroom at Warsaw High School to his role at Grace. He is known for using simulation exercises in the classroom and leading discussions and lectures in an engaging way.

“Jeff fills an invaluable role for our government and politics courses, and he does it with grace and enthusiasm,” said Dr. Jared Burkholder, director of the history and political science program. “Students have responded extremely well to Jeff’s good work in the classroom, and they tell me regularly how much they appreciate his teaching.”