Twenty-One Honored With Teaching Awards
Posted on March 13, 2009The University has selected recipients of the 2009 University Teaching Awards, the highest campuswide recognition for teaching excellence.
The 21 honorees were chosen in nine separate categories and will be recognized by Chancellor Holden Thorp ’86 at an awards banquet March 31 at The Carolina Club.
The Tanner Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching go to five faculty members and carry a $7,500 stipend. The 2009 recipients are:
- Jan Bardsley, an associate professor in the department of Asian studies;
- Adam Grant, an assistant professor at Kenan-Flagler Business School;
- Mitch Prinstein, professor and director of clinical psychology in the department of psychology;
- Arrel Toews, a professor in the department of biochemistry and biophysics in the School of Medicine; and
- Gerald Unks, a professor in the School of Education.
The Tanner Award was created in 1952 with a bequest by Kenneth Spencer Tanner ’11, and his sister, Sara Tanner Crawford, to establish an endowment fund in memory of their parents, Lola Spencer and Simpson Bobo Tanner. In 1990, the University expanded the scope of the Tanner Awards to recognize excellence in the teaching of undergraduates by graduate teaching assistants as well.
The Tanner Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching by Graduate Teaching Assistants are given to five graduate assistant teachers and carry a $5,000 stipend. The 2009 recipients are:
- Jason Bowers, department of philosophy;
- Andrew L. George ’06 (MA), curriculum for the environment and ecology;
- Beth Latshaw, department of sociology;
- Jennifer Mease, department of communication studies; and
- Jason Staples, department of religious studies.
Eleonora Magomedova ’88, lecturer and director of Russian language instruction and conversation in the department of Slavic languages, received the William C. Friday/Class of 1986 Award for Excellence in Teaching, which honors one undergraduate faculty member and includes a stipend of $5,000.
The Friday Award was created by members of the 1986 graduating class to recognize members of the faculty who have exemplified excellence in inspirational teaching and is named in honor of William C. Friday ’48 (LLB), who is president emeritus of the UNC System.
Randall Hendrick, professor and chair of the linguistics department, received the John L. Sanders Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and Service. The award, which carries a $5,000 stipend, recognizes excellence in the teaching, advising and mentoring of undergraduate students in a manner consistent with the life and values of Sanders ’50, the longtime director of the UNC Institute of Government. The award was created in 1995 by Ben M. Jones III ’50 of Hendersonville and Naples, Fla., to honor Sanders.
Tyler Curtain, associate professor in the department of English and comparative literature, received the J. Carlyle Sitterson Freshman Teaching Award, which goes to a faculty member teaching first-year students and carries a $5,000 stipend.
The 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.
The Distinguished Teaching Awards for Post-Baccalaureate Instruction go to four faculty members and carry a stipend of $5,000. The award was first given by the University in 1995. The recipients are:
- William C. Miller, assistant professor of medicine in the School of Medicine and assistant professor of epidemiology in the Gillings School of Global Public Health;
- Kenneth Bollen, professor of sociology and director of the Odum Institute for Research in Social Sciences;
- David Penn, professor and associate director of clinical psychology in the department of psychology; and
- Keith Simmons, professor in the department of philosophy.
Carol Malloy ’95 (PhD), associate professor in the School of Education, received the Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement, which acknowledges “teaching beyond the classroom.” Created in 1997, this award carries a one-time stipend of $1,000.
The Johnston Teaching Excellence Awards go to faculty members for excellence in undergraduate teaching. Recipients receive $5,000. Created in 1991, the award is funded by the James M. Johnston Scholarship Program, which provides need-based scholarships to the University. The winners are:
- Daniel Botsman ’94, an associate professor in the department of history; and
- Lorraine Cramer, a lecturer in the School of Medicine’s department of microbiology and immunology.
This year’s Carolina nominee for the UNC System Board of Governors’ Award for Excellence in Teaching is Christopher Armitage, professor in the department of English and comparative literature. Established by the Board of Governors in April 1994, the award carries a stipend of $7,500. One recipient is selected by each of the 16 constituent institutions of the UNC System. The Chapel Hill recipient is also the University’s nominee for the CASE U.S. Professors of the Year competition, a national award for outstanding undergraduate teaching.
The University Committee on Teaching Awards, affiliated with the Office of the Provost, reviews nominees, collects additional information and recommends winners to the chancellor for six of the awards. Professor Donna LeFebvre of the department of political science chaired the committee this year. Nominations for the awards can be submitted by Carolina faculty and students.
