MIAD Values Recognition Award: Leslie Fedorchuk

Leslie Fedorchuk and Jeff Morin

Leslie Fedorchuk, Professor of Writing & Humanities and Director of Service Learning, received the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) Values Recognition Award for February 2026. Leslie received nominations that highlighted her embodiment of MIAD’s Core Values, especially Integrity, Kindness and Community.

The MIAD Values Recognition Award (VRA) celebrates faculty and staff who consistently model MIAD’s values of courage, integrity, kindness, community, innovation and inclusion. After employees nominate a colleague for the award, a committee made up of faculty, staff and previous VRA winners convenes to vote on the month’s recipient. Awardees receive a $250 prize.

One nominator said, “…Leslie cares so much about others and about community that she founded the Service Learning program at MIAD, which she continues to lead with unparalleled passion. Leslie works tirelessly to inspire in MIAD students the importance of contributing to their communities in the present and in their future lives. Her generosity is mirrored in her personal life; Leslie makes sure her friends, neighbors, and colleagues are always welcome in her home…”

Another nominator said, “Leslie is a compassionate colleague who always encourages us to move with INTEGRITY while fostering COMMUNITY throughout MIAD’s campus, but also in our personal practices. She has a keen ability to see each individual’s super power and encourages them to lean into it, as she champions us even when we forget to champion ourselves.”

“Her commitment to community-building is unprecedented: bringing MIAD into the bigger community, inviting the community to MIAD, connecting and engaging students and faculty,” says another nominator. “It has been a great experience and pleasure working with Leslie on the Gallery Committee, and an honor having her a fellow faculty member.”

Finally, an additional nominator said, “I would not be the educator I am without Leslie, and I can see her impact all over campus in our students and in my peers.”

Learn more about MIAD’s Values Recognition Award or nominate a colleague at www.miad.edu/vra.