Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Annual Instructional Awards banquet set for Monday

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fourteen faculty members at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, three academic professionals and five teaching assistants will be honored for excellence in teaching and advising Monday (April 26) at the annual Instructional Awards banquet in the Illini Union, 1401 W. Green St., Urbana.

Faculty winners of the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching are Stephen P. Altaner, geology; Richard W. Burkhardt Jr., history; Gail E. Hawisher, English; Jeffrey S. Moore, chemistry; and Robert M. Skirvin, natural resources and environmental sciences.

Instructional staff winners of the award are John David Anderson, English, and Ricardo B. Uribe, electrical and computer engineering.

Graduate teaching assistants who will receive the award are Eric A. Dunn, electrical and computer engineering; Rebecca C. Harris, political science; Marina P. Levina, Institute of Communications Research; Roberto Sanchez, history; and Jody L. Shipka, English.

Scott D. Johnson, human resource education, and Paula A. Treichler, Institute of Communications Research, will receive the Campus Award for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Teaching.

The awards recognize professors and graduate teaching assistants who display consistently excellent performance in the classroom, take innovative approaches to teaching, positively affect the lives of their students, and make other contributions to improved instruction, including influencing the curriculum.

Faculty members who are selected for the award receive $5,000 and a $3,000 raise; instructional staff members receive $4,000 and a $1,500 raise; graduate teaching assistants receive $3,500 and a $1,000 increase in their stipends.

Others to be honored at the banquet:

Bruce Litchfield, professor of agricultural engineering, and Thomas Schwandt, professor of educational psychology, will be recognized as Distinguished Teacher/Scholars. The program promotes excellence in teaching by honoring and supporting outstanding faculty members who take an active role in enhancing teaching and learning on the UI campus. During the past year, these honorees utilized their skills to mentor other faculty members. They will retain the title of University Distinguished Teacher/Scholar throughout their Illinois careers.

Donald Briskin, professor of natural resources and environmental sciences, and Neil D. Pearson, professor of finance, will receive the Award for Excellence in Off-Campus Teaching, which provides $4,000 to each recipient.

Dorothy Espelage, professor of educational psychology, will receive the Campus Award for Excellence in Guiding Undergraduate Research, a $2,000 award designed to foster and reward excellence in involving and guiding undergraduate students in scholarly research.

Kathryn Martensen, assistant director of the LAS General Curriculum in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Donna F. Nichols, professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, will receive the Campus Award for Excellence in Advising Undergraduate Students, which provides $2,000 to each recipient.

Shelly J. Schmidt, professor of food science and human nutrition, will receive the Campus Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Instruction Using Educational Technologies. The award provides $2,000 to the recipient.

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