Faculty Spotlight

Dr. Matthew Curtner-Smith, associate professor of kinesiology in the College of Education, is a 2003 recipient of the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award (OCTA), the University's highest honor for excellence in teaching.

According to one of his students, "He opened my eyes to 'what teaching really was all about' and inspired me to become not just a physical education teacher but an effective one. Through his setting of high but achievable expectations, constant and immediate feedback, and caring, I went from someone drifting through his college career to someone with a clear vision of where and what he wanted to be."

Dr. Rona J. Donahoe, associate professor of geochemistry in the College of Arts & Sciences, is a 2003 recipient of the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award (OCTA), the University's highest honor for excellence in teaching.

One of her students recently stated, "Her methods include using multiple strategies (verbal, visual, and hands-on) to disseminate information which holds the student's interest and helps in the assimilation of knowledge."

Jerome A. Hoffman, professor of law in the UA School of Law, is a 2003 recipient of the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award (OCTA), the University's highest honor for excellence in teaching.

A colleague recently stated, "Professor Hoffman gives service in so many ways to the law school and our society. He has devoted himself to combating adult illiteracy, bringing the gift of reading to more Alabamians. There is no greater gift that a teacher can share."

Dr. Gary K. Taylor, associate professor of accounting in the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, is a 2003 recipient of the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award (OCTA), the University's highest honor for excellence in teaching.

According to a student, "Dr. Taylor is one of the most dynamic and inspirational teachers I have ever encountered. He uses his vast knowledge, experience, and vigor for the profession to turn the classroom setting into a vibrant, realistic environment. He is able to provide his students with an insightful understanding of what to expect and what will be expected of them. He incorporates his lessons with actual economic events to expand concepts beyond the text. His performance standards are very high, but he does this to encourage his students to demand more knowledge and interaction from their educational experiences without settling for minimal efforts."

Robin Behn, acclaimed poet and English professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, was selected as the 2003 recipient of the Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award. The award is presented annually to a professor who has demonstrated superior scholarly or artistic achievements and profound dedication to the art of teaching.

"My life as a poet at UA over the last 15 years has taken place within a community of dedicated writers, both colleagues and students, who have been a daily inspiration to me." Behn said. "They are a various and invigorating bunch, and I believe we have kept one another at it, having serious and fearless fun with language."

Dr. Jennings Bryant, holder of the Reagan Chair of Broadcasting and director of the Institute for Communication Research, is widely published in the area of children's television and on the effects of television on the American family.

Bryant was involved in the early work of the Sesame Workshop in New York City and continues to consult for the workshop in entertainment theory and use of entertainment in education. He was script consultant to PBS' "Sesame Street" and "Electric Company."

Bryant recently directed a major study for Nickelodeon measuring the long-term impact of two Nick Jr. shows on preschoolers' behavior. He also has researched and provided commentary on the commercialization of children's television and the use of children's programming to sell goods.

The University of Alabama Board of Trustees has conferred the highest honor it gives to a faculty member to Dr. Louis D. Burgio, professor of psychology, director of UA's Applied Gerontology Program, and co-director of the Center for Mental Health and Aging. Burgio has been named University of Alabama Distinguished Research Professor by the board.

"Designation as a Distinguished Research Professor by our Board of Trustees signifies national and international recognition in the holder's field and scholarly or research productivity of the highest order at The University of Alabama. Dr. Burgio is indeed a distinguished member of our faculty and well deserving of this recognition," said Dr. Judy Bonner, UA provost and vice president for academic affairs.

Dr. Guy Caldwell, assistant professor of biological sciences in the College of Arts & Sciences, led a UA effort that discovered the function of a protein that can suppress the potentially harmful clumping of other proteins. The discovery has implications in dystonia, Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders.

Caldwell, his wife, Dr. Kim Caldwell, an adjunct assistant professor of biological sciences at UA, and The University of Alabama have a patent pending on the finding. "We're actually patenting something that you and I have in our DNA, but we're patenting it for a therapeutic purpose," Guy Caldwell said.

Cornelius Carter, associate professor of theatre and dance in the College of Arts & Sciences, was named the 2001 U.S. Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Recognized as one of the nation's most prestigious awards honoring professors, Carter was chosen from a group of 384 candidates representing 272 institutions of higher education. He has taught modern dance, choreography and jazz at UA for 10 years and also teaches and choreographs dance throughout the country.

The National Academy of Sciences named Dr. Walter Enders, the Lee Bidgood Chair of Economics and Finance in UA's Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, a co-recipient of its 2003 Award for Behavioral Research Relevant to the Prevention of Nuclear War. Enders and a colleague were chosen "for their joint work on transnational terrorism using game theory and time series analysis to document the cyclic and shifting nature of terrorist attacks in response to defensive counteractions," according to the announcement by the NAS.

"This is a very significant achievement," said Dr. Walter S. Misiolek. "This is yet another indication that our faculty is truly world-class and second to none. To be recognized for research that is of benefit to all mankind is the goal of every researcher but one that few attain."

Dr. Donna Gullette, an assistant professor in UA's Capstone College of Nursing, was presented with the Mississippi Nurses Association's "Celebrating Nurses Award."

Gullette recently put her compassion and her other nursing skills to use in her own home, caring for the terminally ill person who inspired her to obtain her doctoral degree. A Columbus, Miss., resident, Gullette cared for her close friend as she was dying of cancer. Gullette moved her friend and the necessary medical equipment into her home, caring for her during the final two months of her life.

Dr. Stephen Kavanaugh, professor of mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering, was presented in 2003 with Fellow Awards by two professional organizations. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers Inc. and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers named Kavanaugh a 2003 Fellow.

Fellow ASHRAE is a membership grade that recognizes distinction in the arts and sciences of environmental technology and is earned through achievement as a researcher, designer, educator or engineering executive. About 500 of ASHRAE's 55,000 members are Fellows.

Fellow is the highest elected grade of membership within ASME, recognizing exceptional engineering achievements and contributions to the engineering profession. ASME is a technical organization with 125,000 members.

Dr. Tonya Klein, a Reichhold-Shumaker assistant professor of chemical engineering, received in 2003 the National Science Foundation CAREER Awards, NSF's most prestigious awards for top performing scientists and engineers who are early in their careers.

Klein has been awarded a five-year, $570,000 grant, to further explore ways of producing smaller and less expensive computer chips. Klein will investigate "atomic layer deposition." This is a method for depositing thin films — only several molecules thick — one atomic layer at a time, as a process for forming materials used in electronic and magnetic devices, including computer chips.

The award is courtesy of NSF's Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program. NSF established the CAREER program in 1995 to help top performers early in their careers to develop simultaneously their contributions and commitment to research and to education.

Dr. Joseph Neggers, professor of mathematics in the College of Arts & Sciences, is a recipient of the National Alumni Association's Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award (OCTA), the University's highest honor for excellence in teaching.

"It was in his classes that I learned not only to do mathematics, but how to 'think mathematically,' " a student noted in a recommendation letter. "He combines mathematics, philosophy, history, poetry and knowledge of world cultures in an elaborate fashion that compels students to learn."

Dr. Robert Pieroni, professor of internal medicine and family medicine in the College of Community Heath Sciences in UA's School of Medicine Tuscaloosa Program, is a recipient of the National Alumni Association's Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award (OCTA), the University's highest honor for excellence in teaching.

According to a colleague, "His vast knowledge of medicine coupled with his perpetually inquisitive mind provide the background for a teaching experience that, in my opinion, few students ever encounter."

A book authored by Dr. George C. Rable, the Charles G. Summersell Professor of Southern History in the College of Arts and Sciences, won the nation's most generous annual American history award. Rable's book "Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!" won the acclaimed Lincoln Prize, administered by Gettysburg College and awarded to the best book written about Lincoln and the Civil War era. It was chosen first from among the 144 books considered for the prize.

Rable's book, published by the University of North Carolina Press, also won the Jefferson Davis Award, presented by the Museum of the Confederacy, and the Douglas Southall Freeman Award from the Military Order of the Stars and Bars.

Dr. Robin Rogers, professor of chemistry and director of UA's Center for Green Manufacturing, was selected as this year's recipient of the Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award. The award is presented annually to a professor who has demonstrated superior scholarly or artistic achievements and profound dedication to the art of teaching.

"This is an incredible honor, and I feel humbled by the University's decision to bestow it upon me," Rogers said of the Burnum Award. "I grew up in Alabama, bleeding red and white and had always wanted to come back here as a professor. When I did return in 1996, I wanted to do the best I could to further my department, college, and University by challenging myself, my students and all around me to be not only the 'best that Alabama can be' but the 'best.' "

Dr. Daniel S. Turner, professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of the University Transportation Center for Alabama, has been elected treasurer of the Council of University Transportation Centers. This initiates a four-year commitment to the CUTC, during which Turner will serve in succession as treasurer, vice president, president, and then on the executive committee for one year each.

Active in professional organizations such as the Institute of Transportation Engineers, Turner served as chair of that organization's Transportation Educators Council and Legislative Committee and was president of the Southern District. He also served as a committee chair of the Transportation Research Board, and he was the national president of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Turner specializes in traffic safety, highway design and transportation management and policy. During the past 17 years, he has conducted 83 research projects, written 275 books, articles and technical reports, and written and conducted 60 short courses.

Dr. Amy Ward, a professor of biological sciences in the College of Arts & Sciences, was honored with the University's Blackmon-Moody Outstanding Professor Award. Ward founded and directs UA's Center for Freshwater Studies and heads a new graduate education program to support students in freshwater studies.

Under Ward's direction, the Center for Freshwater Studies is dedicated to understanding and preserving water, the environment in and around it and the plants and animals that depend on it, including people.

Dr. Raymond E. White III, professor of astronomy in the College of Arts & Sciences, is a recipient of the National Alumni Association's Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award (OCTA), the University's highest honor for excellence in teaching.

White was one of the first astronomers to incorporate the World Wide Web in teaching astronomy and has been active in enhancing the multimedia teaching capabilities in his department and college.

Dr. Jim Bindon, professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a 2004 recipient of the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award (OCTA), the University's highest honor for excellence in teaching.

Bindon joined the UA anthropology department in 1978. Much of his research has involved how culture affects health among Samoans. He has pursued that same area of research among the Mississippi Choctaw, on Tuscaloosa's West Side, and currently among many ethnic groups in Hawaii.

Bindon's most recent new course is "Race, Ethnicity, and Human Variation," where the biological inadequacy of the concept of race is explored by lower division students using a combination lecture and wide-ranging discussion format. He is the faculty sponsor of the UA chapter of Lambda Alpha, the national anthropology honorary society.

Bryan K. Fair, professor of law in the UA School of Law, is a 2004 recipient of the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award (OCTA), the University's highest honor for excellence in teaching.

Fair joined the UA School of Law in 1991 and was named the Thomas E. Skinner Professor of Law in 2000. He has twice been named a Dean's Scholar and is a frequent commentator in local, national, and international press on the constitutional issues pending before the Supreme Court.

Fair is a six-time member of the law school commencement hooding team, and has twice been named the law school's outstanding faculty member. He directs the University of Fribourg/UA cooperative educational program and serves as a summer academic support administrator and teacher.

Dr. Roy Ann Sherrod, professor in the Capstone College of Nursing, is a 2004 recipient of the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award (OCTA), the University's highest honor for excellence in teaching.

Sherrod joined the Capstone College of Nursing in 1981 and has taught in a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses. Her most recent teaching responsibility has been in leadership and management, which are linked to a practicum experience for students with registered nurses at various healthcare facilities.

Sherrod has been instrumental in the development and implementation of the College's graduate program in case management, where she teaches in the human relations management course. She has also taught in graduate issues and roles courses through a former outreach program with UAB.

William Teague, professor of theatre and dance in the UA School of Law, is a 2004 recipient of the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award (OCTA), the University's highest honor for excellence in teaching.

Teague joined the UA department of theatre and dance in 1981. His area of specialty is entertainment technology, with an emphasis on lighting, audio, and computer assisted design. He has worked extensively in outdoor drama, television, film, and special event production as well as traditional theatre and dance.

Teague has served as theatre consultant on many projects including the restoration of Mobile's Saenger Theatre and the Ritz Theatre in Gadsden. Most recently, he coordinated the University's restoration of historic Morgan Auditorium.