Professor Rebeka Campos-Astorkiza researches phonetics and phonology, teaches all levels of classes with passion, and is learning to play the banjo. “It’s kind of hard” she grinned, “to do the picking really fast is complicated”. Musical prospects aside, she doesn’t appear to have any difficulties with her academic pursuits.

Last week, she received the James M. Siddens Award for Distinguished Faculty Advising at Ohio State. The Council of Graduate Studies created the Siddens Award to recognize those faculty who exemplify the best in graduate student advising at Ohio State. The only award of its kind on campus, this award is given annually each spring to one member of the graduate faculty.

Campos-Astorkiza was noticeably delighted when speaking about the award. The opportunity to work with students serves as a great source of inspiration to her. “For me, it’s not just caring about their academic progress.  It’s also making sure they are fine in general with what’s going on in their lives”. The response from these students, both present and past, was overwhelming. An anonymous selection of the kind words passed along in her regard conclude the article.  

"Rebeka represents a model of academic excellence and professionalism to all her Hispanic Linguistics students. As a former doctoral advisee and now a colleague of hers, I am proud to say that this award is very well deserved and stands as a great recognition of her dedication and commitment as an advisor and her overall excellence as a scholar."

"Rebeka really cares about her students and always makes herself available to help students. Even before she was my co-adviser, she was happy to spend time helping me with projects or discussing ideas. Now as my co-adviser, Rebeka keeps me on top of everything by meeting consistently and being willing to look over any materials that I am preparing."

"Dr. Campos-Astorkiza’s expertise, positive attitude, and willingness to offer assistance have made this academic experience a rewarding one for me."

“Rebeka goes above and beyond to ensure our [grad student] success, but not in an intrusive way. Rebeka is an amazing advisor for me because of her hands-on approach. She has been helpful and given extensive, insightful feedback in all aspects of my grad student life including teaching, candidacy exam preparation, the job search, and, of course, my dissertation.”

"I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to have Dr. Campos-Astorkiza as my advisor for the past three years. Her dedication to her students and her advisees is truly unparalleled. As a new Master's student in 2011, I went to Dr. Campos-Astorkiza with a small idea for research and she worked tirelessly with me over the following years, helping me shape it into the project that I am most proud of in my academic career. I would not have accomplished the level of work that I have without her guidance and support."

“For the past three years, Rebeka has been an outstanding advisor, a great supporter of new ideas, and a true mentor. Her solid knowledge in the field, her passion for research and her firm discipline to pursue a goal are only few of her most notable qualities, and she is genuinely enthusiastic to share them with everyone, but particularly with her advisees.”