Three Named Idaho State University Distinguished Faculty

Three Idaho State University faculty will be honored as 2021 Distinguished Faculty. The recipients are Distinguished Teacher Marjorie Montanus, Distinguished Service Diana Livingston Friedley and Distinguished Researcher Sarah Godsey.

The 2021 ISU Distinguished Faculty are selected from finalists in each category who all received Outstanding Faculty awards. 

The 2021 Distinguished Faculty are:

Distinguished Teacher, Marjorie Montanus – Montanus has been a medical laboratory scientist since 1985. She graduated from Illinois State University and worked in the Chicago area for 10 years at the Blood Bank at Hinsdale Hospital in Hinsdale, Illinois as the blood bank educational coordinator for their hospital-based MLS program where she taught students on the bench in Blood Bank. She also taught a semester of Immunology in the MLS program at Chicago Medical School in North Chicago, Illinois. Montanus received a masters degree in health profession education at University of Illinois. After leaving Chicago for the Washington DC area, she had the opportunity to work at Children’s National Medical Center drawing blood donors, performing apheresis procedures, and managing their crew of 10 employees. Montanus later transferred to the Inova Blood Donor Center in Fairfax, Virginia. During her time in the DC area, Montanus became an adjunct faculty at Northern Virginia Community College. After working and teaching in the DC area for a number of years, Montanus  moved to Twin Falls, where she taught elementary school for four years. In 2011, she began working at St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center in Blood Bank and Hematology, later becoming the Point of Care Coordinator. Montanus joined the Idaho State University Medical Laboratory Science program in January 2016 as an adjunct faculty and taught Advanced Concepts in Transfusion Medicine from the Twin Falls CSI campus. In August 2017, Montanus left the clinical lab and began working as an assistant professor in the MLS program at the Meridian campus of Idaho State University. In Fall 2020, Montanus added in the duties of clinical coordinator where she works with the clinical affiliates for the MLS student internships and coordinates the MLS student internships.

Distinguished Service, Diana Livingston Friedley – Livingston Friedley is professor of music in The School of Performing Arts. She is passionate about providing opportunities for students and community members alike with experiences in the arts. Friedley currently serves as vice chair for the Idaho Commission on the Arts, district coordinator for ISU’s hosting of the Idaho/Montana District Metropolitan Opera Auditions, and governor for the Idaho National Association of Teachers of Singing organization. In addition to volunteering for community projects, she serves as a member of the College of Arts and Letters College Executive Council, along with other University and Department of Music committees at Idaho State University. Livingston Friedley has appeared as a guest soloist with numerous organizations throughout the United States, Germany, Italy and Taiwan. More recently, she has appeared with the Idaho State Civic Symphony, Idaho Falls Symphony, Boise Baroque Orchestra and Opera Idaho. Recent projects include: an in-progress recording of “The Vocal Chamber Music of Howard Boatwright,” and releasing “The Songs of Howard Boatwright” with ISU piano faculty, Professor Kori Bond, on Centaur Record label. 

Distinguished Researcher, Sarah Godsey – Godsey earned a PhD in earth and planetary science from University of California – Berkeley in 2009, followed by a postdoctoral research position at Penn State. She joined Idaho State’s Department of Geosciences as faculty in 2012. 

Since then, Godsey has been part of teams awarded four major NSF grants totaling approximately $2 million with additional proposals pending, including the NSF’s CAREER award in 2017. She is a prolific researcher and a known expert on mountain and intermittent stream hydrology. In addition, many of her research articles are written with students; she was awarded “supervisor of the semester” in fall 2020. Godsey regularly leads a large cohort of students to meet to discuss papers in addition to her regularly assigned teaching responsibilities.