FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Contact: Dave Wellman, Director of Communications (304) 696-7153
Dr. Bonita Lawrence named Hedrick Outstanding Faculty Award winner
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Dr. Bonita A. Lawrence, a professor of mathematics at Marshall University, is MU’s Charles E. Hedrick Outstanding Faculty Award winner for 2008-09.
Lawrence will receive $5,000 through a grant from Charles B. and Mary Jo Locke Hedrick. The award is named in honor of Charles Hedrick’s father, Charles E. Hedrick, a former history professor and later Chairman of the Graduate Council, and one of the founders of Marshall’s graduate program.
Marshall’s Office of Academic Affairs announced the Hedrick Award winner and two other awards honoring four faculty members. They are:
Here is a brief look at the awards and the winners:
Hedrick Award
This award recognizes a full-time faculty member who has a minimum of seven years teaching experience at Marshall and has a record of outstanding classroom teaching, scholarship, research and creative activities.
Dr. Bonita A. Lawrence has been at Marshall since August 2001 when she was hired as an assistant professor of mathematics. She was promoted to associate professor in 2003, granted tenure in 2005 and promoted to professor in 2007. She received the Marshall University Distinguished Artists and Scholars Award for 2001 and 2006, and received the Marshall and Shirley Reynolds Outstanding Teacher Award for 2004.
Lawrence received her Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics in 1979 from Cameron University in Lawton, Okla., her Master of Science in Mathematics in 1990 from Auburn University in Auburn, Ala., and her Ph.D. in Mathematical Sciences in 1994 from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Regarding her teaching philosophy, she says she is a firm believer that understanding conceptual ideas and the relationships that link these ideas together is the key to understanding and practical application of ideas.
“A well-known Chinese proverb says, ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’ If we offer a collection of seemingly unrelated ideas, it is as if we are giving our students a fish. If we offer conceptual ideas that are bound together by logic and reason developed through critical thinking activities, we indeed feed them for a lifetime,’ ” Lawrence said.
Dr. Ralph W. Oberste-Vorth, chairman of the Department of Mathematics, nominated Lawrence for the Hedrick Award. He said she keeps her students engrossed in the classroom “by the sheer force of her personality.”
“She shows remarkable enthusiasm for mathematics and for her students,” Oberste-Vorth said.
Dr. Frances Hensley, associate vice president for academic affairs, said Lawrence’s most distinguishing characteristic is enthusiasm for her students and for her great love: math.
“Bonnie takes it for granted that everyone loves math,” Hensley said. “Some of us have just not discovered its beauty! In her classes, this translates into an expectation that everyone is capable of learning even the most difficult mathematical material.”
Dr. David A. Cusick, a professor of mathematics at Marshall, described Lawrence simply as “one of Marshall’s very best teachers – highly informed and infectiously enthusiastic.”
“She is able to intrigue and captivate the interests of students at all course levels,” he said.
Reynolds Award
The Reynolds award includes a $3,000 stipend, and all full-time faculty members who have completed six or more years of service at Marshall are eligible.
Dr. Kateryna Schray has been at Marshall since 1996 when she was hired as an assistant professor. She previously received the Pickens-Queen Teaching Award and the College of Liberal Arts Teaching Award, both in 2001, and the Outstanding Graduate Advisor Award in 2006.
Dr. Donna Spindel, interim chair in the Department of English, nominated Schray for the Reynolds Award.
“I do not know another faculty member who loves teaching more than she does and who shows it,” Spindel said. “I have had the opportunity to work closely with her on course development and am truly astonished by the level of care and ‘perfection’ that she applies to course creation.”
Schray said one of four concepts woven into the fabric of every teaching moment is that “learning is a joy.”
“We share a natural desire to learn,” Schray said. “Learning is both an act of receiving and giving, searching and finding, growing and melting, climbing and falling. It is a communal act, which elevates and humbles us at the same time, whether we are toddlers examining a remote control or astronauts exploring space. In its purest form, learning is at the heart of what we do, and it is an act of joy.”
Pickens-Queen Award
Each of these three award winners receives a $1,000 stipend. The award honors outstanding junior faculty. All faculty members teaching on a full-time, tenured or tenure track appointment who are at the instructor or assistant professor rank and who have completed one to five years of service at Marshall are eligible.
Dr. Natsuki Anderson has been at Marshall University since August 2006. Dr. Christopher L. Dolmetsch, interim chair of Modern Languages at MU, said that since her arrival Anderson has developed an entire academic degree program in Japanese mirroring those already existing for German, French and Spanish.
“Along with full elementary through intermediate-level classes, this program already has attracted approximately 57 majors, which is extraordinary for such a new program,” Dolmetsch said.
Dolmetsch said Anderson also has promoted the teaching of Japanese successfully throughout the Tri-State region. She said she believes that “teaching is learning.”
“As a language learner, I always like the excitement of learning a different language and culture, and I am happy to be able to share the joy of learning with my students,” Anderson said. “At the same time, I am aware of the positive and negative impact that teachers have on students. Therefore, I strive to create an engaging classroom with a sense of community.”
She said she hopes more students consider studying Japanese throughout their lives rather than just as a foreign language requirement for a college degree.
Dr. George Davis has been a member of Marshall’s Political Science Department for five years. Dr. Marybeth Beller, associate dean and associate professor in the department, nominated Davis for the Pickens-Queen Award.
“This award is for teaching, and George’s performance in the classroom underscores his commitment to our students,” Beller said. “When George Davis walks into the classroom, he rolls up his sleeves. The symbolism is bold; he is getting to work, and so do the students. George’s lectures are riveting; they are fast-paced, well organized, full of information, and better still, full of humor.”
Davis said one of his main goals is to invoke student interest in politics, not only as an academic discipline, but as an important component of concerned citizenship. With that in mind, he usually begins his course materials as an attorney would an oral argument.
He said he has learned in his short time teaching that “the clearer we, as faculty, articulate our expectations, the more likely students are to live up to what we expect.”
Political Science graduate student Nora Ankrom said Davis is interested in his students’ success beyond their academic years at Marshall.
“He is genuinely invested in his students and I believe he views his students’ success as his success,” Ankrom said.
Dr. Wendy Williams has been at Marshall since fall 2005. She said she uses a variety of techniques to facilitate student learning, including: 1, presenting material in interactive formats; 2, encouraging and expecting group discussion; 3, engaging students in critical thinking and writing.
“Through those techniques, I provide students with a learning experience that is both personal and challenging,” she said.
Dr. Christopher LeGrow, an associate professor in psychology, said Williams’ teaching efforts have been well received by both students and peers.
“She has developed new courses, incorporated service-learning into her courses, and provided excellent advising to her students,” LeGrow said. “Dr. Williams has also served as the undergraduate program coordinator and worked hard to remodel our department advising materials and process.”
Psychology Professor Dr. Steven P. Mewaldt said Williams is highly committed to excellence in teaching.
“She quickly gained a reputation for being popular and rigorous, but fair,” Mewaldt said. He described her as “the most organized teacher I have ever met.”
The award winners will be recognized at the spring General Faculty Meeting, which begins at 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 28 at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center.
For further information, contact: Office
of University Communications
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