7/09/07
Contact:
Roy Summerford, (334) 844-9999 (summero@auburn.edu)
or
Mike Clardy, (334) 844-9999 (clardch@auburn.edu)
BOYD,
DUTE RECEIVE LEISCHUCK AWARDS AS AU’S TOP TEACHERS
AUBURN - Two
veteran faculty members at Auburn University have been named as the university’s
top teachers for 2007. Pamela C. Boyd of the College of Education and Roland Dute
of the College of Sciences and Mathematics are this year’s recipients of
the Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Awards for Excellence in Teaching.
The Leischucks joined AU President Ed Richardson and Provost John Heilman
in honoring Dute and Boyd in a Monday ceremony at the President’s Home.
“Education, at any level, is only as good as the quality of teaching,”
said Heilman. “Drs. Boyd and Dute help elevate the quality of teaching to
a very high level at Auburn University. They consistently serve as an inspiration
for their students and are role models for other faculty at Auburn and beyond.
The award carries a $10,000 stipend for each recipient. Emeritus senior administrators
Gerald and Emily Leischuck established the endowment in 2005 to recognize the
university’s teachers, and AU presented the first Leischuck Endowed Presidential
Awards the same year. Both the Leischucks had taught in public schools in the
1960s, and both maintained close ties to the AU College of Education during lengthy
careers as administrators at Auburn.
Boyd and Dute were nominated by other
faculty and former students and were recommended for the award by a selection
committee and the provost.
Boyd, an associate professor of curriculum
and teaching, is a teacher of teachers. A faculty member at AU for 14 years, she
teaches undergraduate students in the College of Education and active teachers
in public schools across the region through the college’s outreach programs
and AU’s Graduate School. Among other activities, Boyd was coordinator of
the college’s elementary education program from 2002-05, and she has been
active in formal and informal partnerships with several Alabama schools, including
Auburn City Schools.
Among letters supporting her nomination, several
teachers in public schools said Boyd was a role model for their teaching styles
and philosophy, which includes a commitment to preparation and collaboration.
Also supporting the nomination, College of Education Dean Frances Kochan wrote:
“She is among the most sincere, caring, compassionate and supportive teachers
I have ever known.”
Dute, an AU faculty member for 25 years, is a
professor of biological sciences in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, where
he teaches freshman biology courses for majors and non-majors as well as advanced
undergraduate and graduate courses. He also advises undergraduates in the zoology
and pre-veterinary medicine curriculum, mentors graduate students and has served
on 38 graduate student committees.
In nominating Dute, Robert Lishak,
a 2006 Leischuck Award winner, said Dute stands apart from many other extremely
talented teachers because of his extra efforts to help students master complex
subjects in terms that even non-majors can comprehend. Having witnessed Dute in
the classroom, Lishak wrote: “Roland’s expository speaking style is
punctuated with matter-of-fact presentations of complex concepts and a conversational
manner that allows students in large classes to think he is having a one-to-one
conversation with each of them.”
(Contributed by Roy Summerford.)
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For more news about Auburn University, visit http://wireeagle.auburn.edu/.
In depth reporting, including multimedia features and downloadable photographs
for media use, can be found at http://www.ocm.auburn.edu/newsmakers/.
Auburn University is a top-50 ranked public university that has provided instruction,
research and outreach to benefit the state and nation for more than 150 years.
A more than $4 billion economic impact on the state - including more than $2.4
billion in providing jobs and people resources - demonstrates AU’s commitment
to this mission. AU has more than 214,000 alumni, and provides 130 degree options
to nearly 23,500 graduate and undergraduate students.
july07:AU-leischuck07