UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS TEACHING ACADEMY TO INDUCT SIX NEW MEMBERS

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The University of Arkansas Teaching Academy will honor six award recipients at the Annual Induction Dinner Wednesday, Nov. 14, at the Fayetteville Country Club.

The six new members of the University of Arkansas Teaching Academy are:

. Sidney Burris, professor of English and head of the Fulbright College honors program, Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences

. Gisela Erf, professor of poultry science, Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

. Lori Holyfield, professor of sociology, Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences

. Jon Johnson, professor of management, Sam M. Walton College of Business

. Henry Tsai, professor of history, Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences

. Peter Ungar, professor of anthropology, Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences

The Academy is a society committed to excellence in teaching at the University of Arkansas. The Academy's mission is to advocate and represent teaching interests, promote and stimulate an environment of teaching and learning excellence, and encourage recognition and reward for exceptional teaching.

The Academy consists of faculty who have been recognized by their peers, colleges and the larger University for their excellence in teaching, including excellence in classroom teaching.

Other criteria for being selected to the Academy include the establishment of a special rapport with students, to instill a love for learning, and to encourage them to go beyond the expectations of the classroom and to explore their disciplines for themselves.

Sidney Burris has been a professor of English at the University of Arkansas since 1986 and has been the director of the Fulbright College Honors Program since 1998. He has been recognized at the U of A for his great relationship with students. His ability to hold his students' attention and enthusiasm and his great charisma has allowed his students to hold him in friendly awe.

He has authored many books, essays, reviews and poems and has been chosen as one of 40 contemporary Southern writers to participate in The Millennial Gathering of Southern Writers at Vanderbilt University in April 2000. He has also been an invited participant at several conferences and poetry readings across the country for over 15 years.

Yet he is a demanding teacher, expecting much from his students, and holding them to a very high standard. His peers say he shows his students how to achieve the level of quality in their work that he demands.

Gisela Erf came to the department of poultry science from the department of biological sciences at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., one of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in the United States. While at Smith College she taught immunology, cell biology, animal physiology and human reproductive endocrinology.

Since coming to the University of Arkansas in 1994 she has focused her teaching efforts in the areas of immunology. She has received several awards for teaching, including the Purina Mills Teaching Award for Outstanding Service and Guidance in Teaching Poultry Science, the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences John W. White Outstanding Teacher Award, and the National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Graduate Student Teaching Award of Merit.

The latest award she has received was a Higher Education Challenge Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture that has enabled her to develop a Laboratory Rotations course for undergraduate students that enables students to get hands on experience and exposure to laboratory and research methodology at a very early 'academic age.'

She has a love and a commitment to teaching and has been praised for her concern for students' learning by putting forth the effort to keep their interest and attention.

In Lori Holyfield's six years at the U of A, she has taught courses ranging from introductory level to upper division and graduate level courses in the department of sociology, and she is also regularly selected as a favorite teacher at residence hall and sorority recognition receptions.

Holyfield is currently working on publishing in 2002 the book Moving Up and Out: Poverty, Education and the Single Parent Family, and she has published eight manuscripts dating back to 1995. She has made 20 academic presentations across the country and has six research projects to her credit.

Students and colleagues have described Holyfield as a professor who has a genuine desire to make each individual feel special, going the extraordinary lengths for each individual.

Jon Johnson has been a professor of business in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the U of A since 1996. He has 14 publications to his credit since 1994 and has three articles under review. He has made 25 conference presentations from California to Florida, as well as international presentations in Canada, The Netherlands and South Korea.

Johnson has been the recipient of many honors and awards, including the Faculty Excellence in Advising Award, All-Around Outstanding Faculty Member and Outstanding Faculty Member Award.

Described by his students as a "conscientious teacher and tremendous story teller," Henry Tsai joined the University of Arkansas in 1983.

At the U of A, Tsai is the only Sinologist - a researcher of Chinese culture. He is a leading Chinese historian earning distinction in his field through his research and publications in the United States and China. His research involved years of meticulous study of archival material and established himself as an expert in the experience of Chinese people in America. His definitive work, The Chinese Experience in the America, has been critically acclaimed and identified as the 'standard reference' on the subject.

In his latest book about the Ming Dynasty, Tsai portrays a China full of confidence and curiosity, which - inspired by a visionary leader - reached out to expand territory and trade and to embrace new knowledge and culture.

Published by the University of Washington Press, Tsai’s book "Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle" chronicles one of the most confident periods of Chinese history by examining the life of one of its most dynamic leaders. The book was selected from more than 300 competing manuscripts to be nominated for the Kiriyama Book Prize.

Tsai's reputation as an outstanding teacher has inspired his students. Many students echo sentiments of excellence in teaching - emphasizing motivation and factual knowledge. Going beyond the traditional classroom, Tsai also serves as international academic ties for the U of A in the Far East. In addition, he has almost single-handedly encouraged Asian studies throughout Arkansas.

When Peter Ungar joined the U of A in 1995, he was about to become a bright young star among physical anthropologists in the country. He has established himself at the forefront of his specialty as a physical anthropologist that works in primatology and paleontology, a rare combination.

His work focuses on dietary reconstruction and tooth use in a wide range of primates, including humans. In conducting fieldwork abroad, he gathered 'state-of-the-art' data. He conducted dental microwear analysis that allowed him to contribute significantly to studies throughout a wide range of areas, including paleontology, anthropology, ecology and dentistry.

Ungar's outstanding research has carried him worldwide on naturalistic studies and paleontological expeditions. Renowned museums such as the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Smithsonian Institute, Kenya National Museums and Naturhistorisches Museum Wien in Austria seek his expertise lending to his international reputation.