21 Across Campus Recognized With Teaching Awards

Posted on Feb. 7, 2006

Twenty-one teachers in nine categories have been honored with the University’s 2006 Teaching Awards, the highest campuswide recognition for teaching excellence. The honorees were recognized during halftime of the Feb. 4 Carolina-Clemson men’s basketball game and will be recognized by Chancellor James Moeser at an awards banquet this spring.

Tanner Faculty Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

• Inger S. Brodey, assistant professor, comparative literature;
• Mary Floyd-Wilson ’89 (MA, ’96 PhD), associate professor, English;
• Timothy Marr, assistant professor, American studies;
• David Reeve, DKE Distinguished professor of philosophy; and
• Mort Webster, assistant professor, public policy.

These awards recognize excellence in inspirational teaching of undergraduate students, preferably with respect to influence on first- and second-year students. They were created in 1952 with a bequest by Kenneth S. Tanner ’11 and his sister, Sara Tanner Crawford, establishing an endowment fund in memory of their parents, Lola Spencer and Simpson Bobo Tanner.

Tanner Teaching Assistants’ Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

• Allison Connolly ’03 (MA), Romance languages;
• Matthew Ezzell ’99 (’04 MA), sociology;
• Thomas J. Mustillo ’04 (MA), political science;
• Bridget Raburn, biology;
• Dave Roberts, psychology; and
• Demetrius Semien, sociology.

The award recognizes excellence in the teaching of undergraduates by graduate teaching assistants.

William C. Friday/Class of 1986 Award for Excellence in Teaching

• Dr. Yee Jack Ng, professor of physics.

This award, created with a gift from the class of 1986, honors full-time undergraduate faculty members who have exemplified excellence in inspirational teaching. Friday, a 1948 law school graduate and the award’s namesake, is president emeritus of the UNC System and now is University Distinguished Professor on the Carolina campus.

John L. Sanders Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and Service

• Alfred J. Field, professor of economics and associate chair/director of the Undergraduate Program in Economics.

The award recognizes excellence in the teaching, advising and mentoring of undergraduate students in a manner consistent with the life and values of Sanders, a 1950 graduate and longtime director of the UNC Institute of Government. The award was created in 1995 by Ben M. Jones III ’50 to honor Sanders, who has worked since his own undergraduate days to improve student life and governance. He also has advised generations of students and counseled effective political action in pursuit of constructive change.

J. Carlyle Sitterson Freshman Teaching Award

• Drew Coleman, associate professor, geological sciences.

This award was created in 1998 by the family of the late J. Carlyle Sitterson ’31 to recognize excellence in freshman teaching by a tenured or tenure-track faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences. Sitterson was a Kenan professor of history and was chancellor from 1966 to 1972.

Distinguished Teaching Awards for Post-Baccalaureate Instruction

• Robert Bushman, the Forensic Accounting Distinguished Professor of accounting, Kenan-Flagler Business School;
• Iris B. Carlton-LaNey, professor, social work;
• Arturo Escobar, Kenan professor of anthropology; and
• Carol Mavor, professor, art history.

This award was first given by the University in 1995.

Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement

• James Massey, curator emeritus of the UNC Herbarium.

This award was created in 1997 and acknowledges “teaching beyond the classroom.”

Johnston Teaching Excellence Award

• Kathryn Burns, associate professor, history.

Created in 1991, this award is funded by the James M. Johnston Scholarship Program, which provides need-based scholarships to the University.

UNC System Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching

• Joseph Lowman ’71 (PhD), professor of psychology.

Established in 1994, the awards are given annually to a tenured faculty member from each UNC System campus.

The University Committee on Teaching Awards, affiliated with the Office of the Provost, reviews nominees, collects additional information and recommends nominees to the chancellor on six of the nine award categories. Separate committees in the College of Arts and Sciences chose winners of the Sanders and Sitterson awards, working closely with the campus wide committee. Fellows in the Johnston Scholarship Program nominated and selected the Johnston Award winner and also worked with the campus wide committee.

“The Teaching Awards Committee has a very difficult task because so many excellent teachers receive nominations. Choosing the winners from hundreds of nominations requires many hours of work by the committee members and their dedication to this important process is a real testament to how seriously the University takes teaching and learning,” said Kevin Stewart, chair of the Teaching Awards Committee and an associate professor of geological sciences. “That said, the work is also very rewarding and inspirational.

“The winners of this year’s awards represent a broad cross section of the University and they are all outstanding teachers. We as a University can be extremely proud of the quality of teaching that we provide to our students.”

Recipients from previous years are listed online.

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