Teaching Academy and Teaching and Faculty Support Center Recognize Teaching Excellence

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The UA Teaching Academy and the Wally Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center recognized teaching excellence at the Teaching Awards Reception on Sept. 23 in Boyer Hall at the Janelle Y. Hembree Alumni House.

Chancellor Joe Steinmetz brought greetings to the attendees and words of congratulations to the award recipients, and was joined by Provost Jim Coleman in presenting certificates to the honorees. Christopher Shields (Sociology and Criminology), the 2017 Imhoff Award recipient, delivered the keynote address. The annual reception recognized campus-wide teaching award winners for the 2018-19 academic year.

The honorees were:

• Douglas Rhoads (Biological Sciences) and Anna Zajicek (Sociology and Criminology), Outstanding Graduate Mentor and Educator

• Kathi Jogan (Animal Science), Outstanding Contributions to Service Learning Teaching Award

• Anne Velliquette (Marketing), Arkansas Alumni Association Rising Teaching Award

• Lynn Meade (Communication), John and Lois Imhoff Award for Outstanding Teaching and Student Mentorship

• Howard Brill (School of Law), Charles and Nadine Baum Faculty Teaching Award

• Rachel Glade (Communication Sciences and Disorders), Wally Cordes TFSC Excellence in Service to Teaching Award

The TFSC also presented Faculty Commendations for Teaching Commitment certificates to 48 new and not-so-new faculty members who completed specific activities designed to enhance teaching and learning in 2018-2019. The faculty were:

New Faculty Recipients
Lori Birrell (UNIV LIB), Brandon C. Bouchillon (ARSC), Allison Ames Boykin COEHP), Margaret Miller Butcher (ARSC), Nickolas Andres Castro (ARSC), Jeanne Eichler (COEHP), BJ Garrett (COEHP), Marie Halvorsen-Ganepola (WCOB), Brittany N. Hearne (ARSC), Laura Hill (AFLS), Mark Covington Koch (COEHP), Rocio Alejandra Paez (ARSC), Yarui Peng (ENGR), Shirin Saeidi (ARSC), Yujie Sude (WCOB), Kathy Throop (COEHP), Anthony Vajda (COEHP), Rhodora G. Vennarucci (ARSC)

Not-so-New Faculty Recipients
Adnan Alrubaye (ARSC), Dennis E. Beck (COEHP), Edvan Pereira Brito (ARSC), Raquel Castro Salas (ARSC), Chenguang Fan (ARSC), John Gallagher (ARSC), Rachel Glade (COEHP), Shanda Hood (ARSC), Kristina M. Howlett (COEHP), Deborah Korth (ARSC), Steve Langsner (COEHP), Violeta Lorenzo Feliciano (ARSC), William F. McComas (COEHP), Lynn Meade (ARSC), Robert Mortenson (ARSC), Lori Murray (COEHP), Samantha Robinson (ARSC), Victoria Ann Ryburn (ARSC), Lauren Copley Sabon (ARSC), Anthony Sargenti (ARSC), Karen Sebold (ARSC), Han-Seok Seo (AFLS), Leslie Jo (LJ) Shelton (COEHP), Christopher A. Shields, Sr. (ARSC), Carole Shook (WCOB), Kate Ireton Walker (ARSC), Lora Walsh (ARSC), Yong Wang (ARSC), Jacquelyn D. Wiersma-Mosely (AFLS), Jordan Blair Woods (LAW)

In addition, Mary Savin (Crop, Soils and Environmental Sciences) past-president of the Teaching Academy (2017-2019) and Jack Kern (Health, Human Performance & Recreation), past TFSC co-director (2106 - 2019), received crystal apples in recognition of their leadership and service.

Finally, the Teaching Academy and the TFSC presented Ro Di Brezzo with an engraved crystal award recognizing her unique service as both a founding co-director of the TFSC (1992-1997) and as the inaugural vice provost for faculty affairs (2012-2019).

The Teaching 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 mission of the Wally Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center is to assist the faculty with their scholarship of teaching and to act as a resource center for new teaching techniques and programs.