Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Twenty to be honored for excellence in teaching, advising

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Ten faculty members, five academic professionals and five graduate teaching assistants at the University of Illinois will be honored Tuesday (April 27) for excellence in teaching and advising. The honors will be presented during a reception at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center, 601 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana.

Faculty members honored with the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching are Roy Axford, nuclear, plasma and radiological engineering; Steven Helle, journalism; Anthony Pollock, English; Kelly Tappenden, food science and human nutrition; and Billie Theide, School of Art and Design.

Instructional staff members to receive the award are Thomas Costello, teaching associate in communication; Michael Raycraft, lecturer in recreation, sport and tourism; and David Sinow, clinical professor in finance.

Graduate teaching assistants who will receive the award are Kimber Andrews, School of Art and Design; Troy Cooper, communication; Lynn Herrmann, kinesiology and community health; Amy Oh, classics; and Jennifer Rosner, psychology.

The awards recognize professors, instructional staff members 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 and instructional staff members selected for the awards each receive $5,000; graduate teaching assistants receive $3,500.

Other award winners to be honored:

Thomas Graves, a professor of veterinary clinical medicine, and Lisa Spanierman, a professor of educational psychology, will receive the Campus Award for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Teaching. Each receives $5,000.

Debra Woods, a lecturer in mathematics, will receive the Campus Award for Excellence in Off-Campus Teaching, which provides the recipient with $5,000.

Timothy Strathmann, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, will receive the Campus Award for Excellence in Guiding Undergraduate Research. The $2,000 award is designed to foster and reward excellence in involving and guiding undergraduate students in scholarly research.

Helen Neville, a professor of educational psychology, will receive the Campus Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring, which provides the recipient with $2,000.

Gary Wszalek, the head academic adviser in psychology, will receive the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising, which provides the recipient with $2,000.

Timothy Stelzer, a research professor of physics, named the Distinguished Teacher Scholar for this academic year, also will be recognized at the reception.

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