Sixteen faculty members honored for excellence in teaching

The winners are named each year by the Council on Teaching. Nominations are made by students, other faculty members, and department heads. Award winners are chosen based on how their teaching and informal contacts enhance student learning, an analysis of teaching materials and class activities, scholarly works or creative achievements, and student evaluations of the nominee’s teaching ability.

The following list includes the recipients and a comment about their teaching from one of their students.

Jill Beckman	David Bills

Jill Beckman, assistant professor, linguistics, whose teaching includes Articulatory and Acoustic Phonetics, Phonological Analysis, Historical and Comparative Linguistics, Phonological Theory, and Languages of the World. A graduate student wrote, “What makes her courses so rewarding? She is, of course, an exceptionally eloquent and engaging lecturer, but she offers more than an elaborate exposition of the topic at hand.… I found it fun and edifying to watch her use such imaginative props as matches, tuning forks, and lollipops, to illustrate some articulatory process or other. Because Jill was having fun too, all the students could sense her love of the subject. But the lectures are just the beginning, because if you take a higher level graduate course or a seminar with Jill Beckman, you will really become a part of linguistics in action.”

David B. Bills, associate professor, educational policy and leadership studies, whose teaching includes Education and Social Change, Educational Sociology, Demographic Techniques for Education Research, Education and Social Change, and Education and the World of Work. An undergraduate student wrote, “Professor Bills has the amazing ability to present controversial research findings, facilitate discussions that are often heated, and challenge statements that may or may not be reality-based, without alienating students, inhibiting participation, or being emotionally drawn in…he is insightful, down-to-earth, and supportive.”

Nancy Bonthius	Rudi Colloredo-Mansfield

Nancy Bonthius, assistant professor, clinical division of clinical and administrative pharmacy, whose teaching includes Pediatric Clerkship, Pharmacotherapy III and IV, Pediatrics, Clinical Toxicology and Ophthalmology, and Physical Assessment. A fourth-year pharmacy student wrote, “Dr. Bonthius is unique in her enthusiastic dedication to teaching and to students. She is among the most open and approachable professors I have encountered. Her expectations are clear and fair. Her interest in students is apparent and extends beyond the classroom. She is thoughtful, flexible, and encouraging. Her passion for what she teaches, and for teaching itself, is inspiring.”

Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld, assistant professor, anthropology, whose teaching includes Introduction to the Study of Culture and Society, Artisans and Global Culture, Latin American Economy and Society, Culture and Consumption, Economic Anthropology of the Third World, and Seminar in Sociocultural Anthropology. An undergraduate student wrote, “Many students leave college with an understanding that if they had not taken a certain class their experience would have been drastically reduced. My sophomore year I signed up for a class called Economic Anthroplogy of the Third World.... What seemed like an interesting title turned into the most worthwhile, challenging, and intellectually stimulating class of my undergraduate studies.... [Prof. Colloredo] encouraged the class to discuss the material in an open and creative environment. I had never seen a teacher receive more unsolicited respect than Prof. Colloredo. He allowed one to wrestle with the material, all the while carefully guiding the student to see an overall theme.”

Cary Covington	Mary Lou Emery

Cary R. Covington, associate professor, political science, whose teaching includes Introduction to American Politics, The Presidency, Public Administration, and Bureaucratic Politics. An undergraduate student wrote, “As my studies continue in political science, I appreciate the skills that Prof. Covington has instilled in me. He remains non-biased in his teaching, which I admire greatly because it is so rarely seen. It makes the learning environment created well-rounded. He urges students to look at politics not from just one point of view, but all points of view. He compels us to participate and express our opinions. Prof. Covington gives students the opportunity to learn about politics in a way that is distinctive and commendable.”

Mary Lou Emery, associate professor of English, whose teaching includes Postcolonial Studies: Introduction to Postcolonial Literatures, Readings in 20th-century Literatures I: England Between the World Wars, Selected Authors: Virginia Woolf, Literature, and Culture of the 20th Century, Readings in 20th-century Literatures I: Cross-cultural Modernism, and Caribbean Literature: Writings in Exile. A graduate student wrote, “Whether it is class discussion or the…attention given to students’ writing, Dr. Emery is open and honest, provocative and encouraging, respectful and interested....It may come across in her constructive feedback regarding the students’ work, or it may surface in her willingness to give time to students outside of the classroom...it is Dr. Emery’s ability to demand without intimidating, and to challenge without suffocating, that makes her such an admirable scholar and instructor.”

Thomas George	David Kusner

Thomas George, associate professor, finance, whose teaching includes Level Investments, Investment Management, Bonds and Interest Rate Derivatives, Corporate Finance, and Empirical Methods in Finance to doctoral students. A student in the Executive MBA Program wrote, “Tom has high expectations for his students but is compassionate to their struggles…It is hard to measure, but students intuitively can sense when their rate of academic growth is even surprising themselves. Tom was widely recognized for carrying our class to this level of performance.”

David Kusner, associate professor, internal medicine whose teaching includes Immunology, Introduction to Clinical Disciplines, Clinical Infectious Diseases, and Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases. A fourth-year medical student wrote, “Dr. Kusner’s lectures practically shout, ‘I am so HAPPY to be here!’ His enthusiasm is as contagious as the disease processes described in his lectures. I admire his passion for life that is manifested through his teaching. He is able to simplify complex course material into lectures that have clear objectives.... His energetic style and booming voice always keep me fully engaged in his lectures. He is constantly making eye contact. He is seeking a connection with the students and checking to see if the students are making a connection with his lecture materials. He is constantly inviting questions throughout his lectures and is able to seamlessly integrate those questions into the flow of knowledge that he is delivering.”

David W. Murhammer	Patrick O' Shaughnessy

David W. Murhammer, associate professor, chemical and biochemical engineering, whose teaching includes Engineering Discussion, Momentum Transport, Chemical Process Safety, and Engineering Aspects of Animal Cell Culture. A student wrote, “…I believe Dr. Murhammer greatly enhanced my problem-solving skills and my thought processes. [As a] student who...is making substantial financial sacrifices in order to acquire an engineering degree; I tend to grade my instructor’s performance based on ‘did I get my money’s worth?’ In the case of Dr. Murhammer, I received the best educational bargain I have ever encountered. I will reap the benefit of his teaching for the rest of my life. I can think of no higher praise.”

Patrick O’Shaughnessy, assistant professor, occupational and environmental health, whose teaching includes Introduction to Environmental Health, Statistics for Engineers, Industrial Hygiene, Engineering I, and Air Pollution Technology. A student who worked with Prof. O’Shaughnessy as a graduate research assistant wrote, “Dr. O has spent time working individually on the project, as well as along with me in order to instruct and assist. He frequently walks from his office to the labs to show me certain things, or to help problem solve. He has personally made trips to hardware stores to pick up parts that expand the human exposure apparatus.... He makes practical suggestions and we hypothesize together on what might improve our work. Work has progressed smoothly since I started with Dr. O. I have felt encouragement from him, and I have no doubt that I will graduate according to schedule.”

Michael Peterson	Todd Pettys

Michael W. Peterson, professor, internal medicine, teaches medical students and physician assistant students in Foundations of Clinical Practice (held during the first four semesters of med school), and teaches students in clinical rotations. A fourth-year medical student wrote: “He is a teacher who doesn’t just give a lecture, but who gives tools to use that impact the acquisition of all future knowledge. He uses multiple educational resources, including web-based resources, images, and charts to make learning difficult concepts much easier.... His lecture on the reliability of web-based resources taught me the importance of critically appraising all resources, which is something I, and all future physicians, need to do every single day. His lectures on pulmonary diseases have inspired me to consider this as a possible future career choice.”

Todd E. Pettys, associate professor, law, whose teaching includes Evidence, Federal Courts, and Constitutional Law. A third- year law student writes, “Interested and concerned professors are more worried about compassion than condescension; they are more interested in the enlightenment of others than their own gratification. They are found more often with students than alone. Finally, interested and concerned professors know those whom they teach. Prof. Pettys displays this kind of interest and concern…[he] stands out as an extraordinary professor, dedicated to helping students become proficient lawyers and good people.”

Rosemarie Scullion	William Synan

Rosemarie Scullion, associate professor, French and Italian and women’s studies, whose teaching includes The Modern French Novel at the graduate level and Cinema, Society, and Culture in 20th-century France, Gender and Sexuality in French Cinema, The Holocaust in French Literature and Film, and French Women Writers of the 20th Century. A student wrote, “Prof. Scullion always was eager to listen to each voice in the classroom, and soon we all became eager to listen to one another. Her excitement for the course inspired me.... The focus in her course upon students as peers in the understanding of the subject differed from any other course I’d taken. We learned together, I felt, and never was a question or opinion treated with anything other than honest respect and curiosity.”

William J. Synan, clinical associate professor, oral and maxillofacial surgery, teaches basic dentalveolar surgical procedures and patient care to students who rotate through his clinic. A fourth-year dental student wrote, “I have always found him to be motivating in counsel, honest and constructive in evaluations, fair come test time, friendly and approachable, practical and efficient in the clinic and encouraging when frustrations set in…. As a result of his mentoring, I personally have considered a career in teaching.”

Edward Thompson	Walter Vispoel

Edward Thompson, clinical associate professor, nursing, director of the MSN Anesthesia Nursing Program, whose teaching includes Teaching Equipment and Technological Principles in Anesthesia Practice, Basic Principles of Anesthesia Practice, and Principles of Anesthesia Nursing IV. A student wrote, “When I began in the nurse anesthesia program, there were times when I wasn’t sure I could pull through the difficult didactic and clinical components. Dr. Thompson was the one, in tune to our individual needs, pushing us to our limits, but not letting us fall too hard.... Always demanding the most from us and teaching us to demand the most from ourselves, we not only made it through the...challenges, but excelled in doing so.”

Walter Vispoel, professor, psychological and quantitative foundations, whose teaching includes Statistical Methods, Education Measurement and Evaluation, Correlation and Regression Techniques, and Computerized Testing. A graduate student wrote, “Dr. Vispoel...is a master teacher.... He willingly and excitedly accepts the personal challenge to teach material that many students find challenging. Coupled with natural skill, Dr. Vispoel employs many effective teaching strategies to aid in student understanding…I found his expertise and teaching art truly complementary, and a combination that fostered successful learning for myself and others.”

Compiled by Linzee Kull McCray