Vanderbilt faculty members receive awards for teaching excellence

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt Chancellor Joe B. Wyatt, a strong advocate for superior teaching at all levels, announced the winners of seven faculty awards presented annually for excellence and outstanding achievement during the Board of Trust luncheon April 28.

Wyatt, who established Chairs of Teaching Excellence in 1993 to recognize outstanding classroom teaching, announced this year’s recipients are Leonard Folgarait, professor of fine arts and chair of the department, and Terence Dermody, associate professor of pediatrics and associate professor of microbiology and immunology in the School of Medicine. Chairs of Teaching Excellence carry three-year, non-renewable terms and a $10,000 annual salary supplement. The recipients also become leaders in efforts to foster quality teaching at Vanderbilt.

Folgarait also received the Alumni Education Award, given each year to a faculty member who has contributed substantially to developing or participating in those programs of the Vanderbilt Alumni Association that further the education of alumni. The award consists of a cash prize of $2,500 and an engraved julep cup.

Wyatt also announced that this year’s winner of the Madison Sarratt Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching is Malcolm Getz, associate professor of economics. The Ellen Gregg Ingalls Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching was presented to John Sloop, assistant professor of communication studies. The Sarratt and Ingalls awards, among the highest honors that a Vanderbilt faculty member can earn, each carry with them an engraved pewter cup and a cash award of $2,500.

Wyatt presented the Alexander Heard Distinguished Service Professorship for “distinctive contributions to the understanding of problems of contemporary society” to Hugh Davis Graham, the Holland N. McTeiyre Professor of History and professor of political science. Graham received an engraved silver tray and a $2,500 award.

Wyatt announced that the Harvie Branscomb Distinguished Professor winner is Lawrence J. Marnett, the Mary Geddes Stahlman Chair in Cancer Research, professor of biochemistry and professor of chemistry. The Branscomb Distinguished Professor holds the title for one academic year and receives an engraved silver tray and a prize of $2,500. The award recognizes an individual faculty member for “distinguished accomplishment in furthering the aims of Vanderbilt University.”

Following is a brief listing of the winners’ professional accomplishments:

Leonard Folgarait, Chair of Teaching Excellence, Alumni Education Award: As a teacher in the field of art history, his classes are relatively large – but his classroom evaluations are among the highest of any candidate for this award. Folgarait’s teaching project will address how visual images can be used in teaching, a topic that will be of great interest to all faculty, including those looking to the internet as a teaching tool.

Terence Dermody, Chair of Teaching Excellence: Wyatt called Dermody “a person of energy and optimism” with “a love of teaching in every setting, from the classroom to the bedside.” Wyatt said Dermody is “a dedicated researcher who uses his laboratory as a foundation for his teaching.” In one class, 97 percent of his students gave him the highest marks on his evaluations over a period of years. He also has developed an innovative course on “Practicing Caring Medicine for AIDS Patients.”

Malcom Getz, Madison Sarratt Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching: Getz received his B.A. from Williams and a Ph.D. in economics from Yale. He joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 1973, and has also served as director of the Jean and Alexander Heard Library and associate provost. For the past nine years, he has used an electronic classroom in which every student has fulltime use of a computer during class. He was one the first teachers at Vanderbilt to do that, and his practice has now been widely duplicated by others.

John Sloop, Ellen Gregg Ingalls Award: Calling Sloop “one of the most gifted young faculty members at Vanderbilt,” Wyatt noted that he has distinguished himself both as a great teacher and a prolific scholar. “His students are equally enthusiastic about his enthusiasm and the rigor of his courses,” Wyatt said. “He is an avid consumer and user of the latest online teaching techniques, and demands that his students participate in them too – which they do. He also forgoes the assistance of a grader, preferring to read each paper and exam himself.”

Hugh Davis Graham, Alexander Heard Distinguished Service Professor: Graham is a scholar of some of the most critical issues of post-war America: civil rights, crime and violence, the rise of the South as perhaps the most important region in the country, and education policy from pre-schools to the research university. He is the author of numerous articles, chapters and books, including The Civil Rights Era, which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1991. Described as a gifted and popular teacher at the undergraduate and graduate level, Graham a year ago received the Madison Sarratt Prize

Lawrence J. Marnett, Harvie Branscomb Distinguished Professor: Marnett has twice been chosen among the top five teachers by first-year medical students. Considered “a world-class researcher and scholar,” Marnett has contributed immensely to the fight against cancer through his work at the intersection of chemistry and biology, Wyatt said. He noted that Marnett’s groundbreaking research on anti-inflammatory drugs has directly led to the development of the new “superaspirin.” He also helped found the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and serves as its associate director for research programs.

Media contact: Lew Harris, (615) 322-NEWS
lewis.g.harris@vanderbilt.edu

-VU-