April 26, 1996
Contact: Kelly C. Lockhart, (615) 322-2706

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Two Vanderbilt University faculty members were recognized for intellectually challenging students and were awarded Chairs of Teaching Excellence by Chancellor Joe B. Wyatt at the Board of Trust luncheon today.

Wyatt honored Associate Professor of Management William G. Christie and Associate Professor of French Virginia M. Scott, who were singled out by a 12-member committee of their peers for teaching excellence and for making a difference in the lives of their students.

As the recipients, Christie and Scott are appointed to three-year, non-renewable terms and receive salary supplements of $10,000 per year. They also are expected to participate in activities that will broadly promote excellence in teaching at Vanderbilt.

Wyatt announced the establishment of the Vanderbilt Chairs of Teaching Excellence in April 1993 in order to recognize extraordinary accomplishments of teachers and to promote the further enhancement of teaching at Vanderbilt. Through this initiative, up to two chairs are awarded annually to faculty members actively involved in graduate or undergraduate classroom teaching.

Christie, who joined the Owen faculty in 1989, teaches finance in both the regular and the Executive M.B.A. programs. Christie was the 1994 and 1995 recipient of the James A. Webb Jr. Award for Excellence in Teaching, presented annually to the Owen faculty member judged by each graduating class to be its most outstanding teaching.

He also received the Executive M.B.A. Program Outstanding Professor Award in both 1993 and 1994. In order to be awarded the Executive M.B.A. Award in 1994, the graduating students voted to change a rule that previously disallowed a faculty member from winning the award in consecutive years. In addition to these student-voted awards, he received the Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1991 and 1993.

"Professor Christie has not received these accolades by being `soft' or `easy' on his students," noted Nancy Lea Hyer, Owen Graduate School of Management associate dean, in her nomination letter. "On the contrary, his courses are often cited as the most difficult and intellectually challenging offered in the finance curriculum, especially among the core courses.

"His ability to succeed despite the demands he places on students reflects his commitment to their education and the unmistakable enthusiasm he brings to the classroom."

Christie's accomplishments in the classroom have not compromised his research productivity, according the Hyer. His paper, "Why Do Nasdaq Market Makers Avoid Odd- Eighth Quotes" coauthored with a colleague at Ohio State, has produced "a firestorm of controversy that has sparked numerous federal investigations in the fairness of the Nasdaq Stock Market."

Christie said he believes students should be "valued as individuals, who bring unique abilities, perspectives and motivation to the classroom" and adheres to the concept that students are both "consumers" and "products" of education.

Because he experienced, what he called, a "fight-or-flight" sense of panic upon entering his assigned room for his first lecture as an assistant professor with no prior teaching experience, Christie hopes to use his chair position to better prepare junior faculty for their teaching responsibilities by conducting a workshop in late July or early August of each year for new assistant professors.

The second chair winner, Scott, is described by Patricia Ward, professor of French and department chair, as a "dynamic, witty and well-informed practitioner."

Scott's students agreed. Students have called Scott "vivacious, fun, inspiring and great" and described her classes as "lively and exciting" in past classroom evaluations.

Scott joined the Vanderbilt faculty 1988. She teaches all levels of undergraduate language and graduate seminars and is director of undergraduate language instruction, coordinating all elementary- and intermediate-level language courses and supervising the graduate teaching assistants.

Scott said she believes the classroom is a "forum for exchange in which the teacher and the students focus on an explicit academic discipline while also exploring larger, real-life issues.

"With this approach, the classroom is a microcosm of the real world and critical thinking skills are the tools of success. As a foreign language teacher, I believe that I must not only teach French but also show how this subject is part of a more global learning experience."

As director of language instruction for the Department of French and Italian, Scott has achieved national recognition for incorporating computer software at very early stages in language study, permitting effective writing in the target language. She conducts classroom-based research, including a book on the teaching of writing in a foreign language which is in the final stages of publication by Heinle and Heinle.

Because of her interest in computer-assisted instruction, Scott said she hopes to use the chair to help colleagues explore alternatives for integrating computer instruction into their curricula. She also wants to assist junior faculty members in developing useful teaching strategies for classes by providing a cross-disciplinary forum for discussion and to help colleagues with classroom-based research.

Four faculty members have been appointed to these chairs in the first two years of the program, two from the College of Arts and Science, one from the School of Law and one from the School of Medicine. Selection is based on student ratings, student comments, classroom visits and letters of nomination. Finalists also must submit a statement of their teaching philosophy and an intention statement which describes how they will use the chair to better teaching at Vanderbilt.

The Chairs of Teaching Excellence Committee consisted of faculty members from each of the schools, the director of the Center for Teaching and Associate Provost John Venable, who serves as chair.