Four FSU Faculty Members Honored for Excellence

Four Fairmont State University faculty members were honored at the recent 32nd Annual Academic Awards Celebration.

Dr. Leland M. George, Professor of English, was named the 2008-2009 recipient of the William A. Boram Award for Teaching Excellence. Dr. Pamela Davey Huggins, Associate Professor of Biology, was named the winner of the Harold & Roselyn Williamson Straight Award for Faculty Development. Dr. Erin Hippolyte, Assistant Professor of French, received the Excellence in Academic Advising Award. Amy Wilson, an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Language & Literature, was presented with the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award. The faculty awards are supported by gifts to the Fairmont State Foundation, Inc.

William A. Boram Award for Teaching Excellence

Dr. Leland M. George

The Faculty Development Committee selected Dr. Leland M. George as the winner of the 24th annual Boram Award in recognition of his outstanding achievement as demonstrated by his sustained, energetic and successful commitment to teaching. The award is sponsored by the Faculty Senate and given in honor of FSU's many faculty members who have demonstrated unusual dedication and accomplishment in teaching.

George has been at Fairmont State since 1984. He teaches a wide variety of courses in the Department of Language and Literature, from Honors sections of the first required writing course to "Theories of Language and their Application to English," a course he created in 2007.

"Dr. George is known across campus as a student-centered professor, and even though all of us should be so, it is particularly noticeable as he offers to tutor struggling and returning students, directs independent studies or participates in the Foundations of Excellence, a project aimed at helping freshmen to stay in school," said Dr. Christina Lavorata, Associate Provost. 

"Two comments from his students struck me: 'Dr. George brought energy to the class and kept the students awake and interested; he changed my attitude toward writing drastically.' And from another: 'You offered valuable insights and helped me to see the world in a differential light. I've since started to argue much more intellectually; I question the underlying assumptions of questions, and arguments, especially my own.'"

George's colleagues remark that he is committed to teaching students to think for themselves and to take responsibility for themselves. One colleague stated: "As a writing teacher he is innovative, challenging and constantly searching for new ways to get his students to think and write with precision and integrity."

Harold & Roselyn Williamson Straight Award for Outstanding Teaching

Dr. Pamela Davey Huggins

The Harold & Roselyn Williamson Straight Award for Outstanding Teaching is intended to honor or to encourage outstanding, innovative or otherwise distinctive teaching or scholarship at Fairmont State. Nominations and applications are invited and received by the Faculty Development Committee and the Center for Teaching Excellence, with final selection of the recipient for an annual cash award to be determined by faculty representatives to the committee.

Dr. Pamela Davey Huggins has been a member of the Biology faculty since 2002. In 2007, she delivered the Presidential Lecture titled "Evolution, Creationism and Intelligent Design: The Conflict in Public Education." She has taught at the Governors Honors Academy, serves as a consulting editor for Marine Ecology Progress Series and directs a group of undergraduates informally known as the Fishheads. 

Huggins has delivered campus lectures on human sexuality, supervised undergraduate research projects and participated in learning communities. She has been chair of the Curriculum committee for three years and recently served on the Presidential Search Committee. She has been described by her students as the teacher who offers comfort and one who has her office open to them when they need to recover their confidence and sanity. 

 

Excellence in Academic Advising Award

Dr. Erin Hippolyte

The Excellence in Advising Award is presented to honor demonstrated excellence and commitment to the significant force that academic advisors play in the education, personal development and success of their advisees. It is offered as a tribute but also as encouragement to all faculty advisors to persist in their efforts to help students achieve.

Pamela Stephens, Coordinator of Academic Advising, presented the award to Dr. Erin Hippolyte.

"Academic advising is more than just course selection and registering for classes, and Erin demonstrates just how influential advisors can be in students' lives," Stephens said. "According to the nomination-which I believe summarizes Erin's qualifications for this award better than I can-"Dr. Hippolyte encouraged me to achieve my dreams....She opened doors for me and various other French students.' "She takes her time to make sure students are reaching our goals and are progressing.' "Dr. Hippolyte is an amazing advisor and she must be recognized. If it weren't for her, I would have left Fairmont State before earning a degree. I give the credit to her, for inspiring me to stay with it, even in the toughest times.' 

Outstanding Adjunct Faculty

Amy Wilson

Amy Wilson, an adjunct faculty member for the Department of Language & Literature, was honored with the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award. Dr. Deanna Shields, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, presented her with her award.

A Bellview native, Wilson earned an M.A. in English in 1998 from West Virginia University. She has been an adjunct faculty member at Fairmont State for more than 11 years and has also taught at Glenville State College and WVU.