21 Across Campus Recognized With Teaching Awards

Posted on Feb. 23, 2005

Twenty-one teachers in nine categories have been honored with the University’s 2005 Teaching Awards, the highest campuswide recognition for teaching excellence.

Tanner Faculty Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

• Frank Church, professor, pathology and laboratory medicine/biology;
• María DeGuzmán, assistant professor, English;
• Sarah Shields, associate professor, history;
• Julie Fishell ’98 (MA), adjunct assistant professor, dramatic art; and
• Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, professor and department chair, philosophy.

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

• Jay Elliott ’03 (MA), psychology;
• Kathryn Lofton ’02 (MA), religious studies;
• Patrick Miller ’96 (MA), philosophy;
• Yolonda Wilson ’04 (MA), philosophy; and
• Matthew M. Woolley, economics.

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

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

• Lars Schoultz ’73 (PhD), Kenan professor, political science.

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

• David Penn, associate professor, psychology.

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 and pursuit of constructive change.

J. Carlyle Sitterson Freshman Teaching Award

• John McGowan, professor, English.

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

• Joseph Eron, assistant professor, medicine;
• David Leith, professor, environmental sciences and engineering;
• Gerald Postema, Cary C. Boshamer professor of philosophy, philosophy and law; and
• Mary Sheriff, chair and Daniel W. Patterson Distinguished Professor, art.

This award was first given by the University in 1995.

Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement

• Clayton Wheeler, professor and chair emeritus, dermatology.

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

Johnston Teaching Excellence Award

• C.J. Skender, adjunct professor, business; and
• Paul Kropp, professor, chemistry.

Created in 1991, these awards are funded by the James M. Johnston Scholarship Program.

UNC System Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching

• Trudier Harris, Sitterson professor, English.

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 and recommends nominees to the chancellor in these categories; alumni nominations also are considered. The James M. Johnston Scholarship Program oversees the Johnston Teaching Excellence Awards, in coordination with the campuswide committee.

Honorees will be recognized at a banquet this spring. Recipients from previous years are listed online.

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