Speights Receives Frostburg State University President’s Distinguished Faculty Award

Sep 17, 2025 8:00 AM

Dr. Jason Speights, associate professor of physics and the director of the Multimedia Learning Center (MLC) and Planetarium at Frostburg State University, has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the President’s Distinguished Faculty Award. This award recognizes a faculty member who has provided exceptional service to the University and has advanced its mission, goals and strategic priorities.

“Jason’s passion and dedication to FSU have made a lasting difference – not only within the University, but also in the greater community,” said FSU President Darlene Brannigan Smith, PhD. “This well-deserved award reflects his hard work and commitment to making a positive impact. We are fortunate to have him as part of our faculty.”

Speights join the FSU team in 2012 and was instrumental in transitioning the University’s Planetarium from Tawes Hall to the MLC and Planetarium located inside the Catherine R. Gira Center for Communications and Information Technology. While the Planetarium has been out of operation for some time awaiting necessary restoration, he has worked to expand outreach as an advocate for its reopening, which has been successfully scheduled for later in the spring. He also served as the chair of the Retrenchment Plan Committee and is the secretary for Faculty Senate.

“When the Planetarium was operational, I took my child to one of the free monthly shows,” recalls FSU assistant professor Naomi Gades. “Families from the area all gathered to take in Jason’s sky talk and the film he showed in the Planetarium. This will be these children’s formative memory of FSU: a welcoming space with fascinating technology and hands-on learning experiences.”

In 2018 Speights received the University System of Maryland’s (USM) Regents’ Faculty Award for Excellence in Mentoring, the highest honor that the USM Board of Regents bestows to recognize exemplary faculty achievement.