2006 Honors and Awards: Josiah Meigs Teaching Professors
Five of UGA’s outstanding teachers will be named Josiah Meigs Teaching Professors at the Faculty Recognition Banquet at the Athens Country Club on the evening of April 24. The professorship recognizes excellence in instruction at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Meigs Professors receive a permanent salary increase of $6,000 and a fund of $1,000 for departmental use. The professorship is named for Josiah Meigs, who in 1801 succeeded Abraham Baldwin as president—and sole professor—of Georgia’s fledgling state university.
Karen Paige Carmichael Professor of Veterinary Pathology
By Mary Jessica Hammes
Her inventive teaching style has been known to involve students in sing-a-longs or theatrical skits, and her influence has directly led to UGA’s College of Veterinary Medicine producing more pathologists than any other school.
Karen Paige Carmichael has earned the title of Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor for many reasons, all of which can be broken down to a simple concept, says fellow Meigs veterinary pathology professor Corrie Brown.
“She is a star,” Brown says.
Carmichael received her D.V.M. from Tuskeegee University in 1987 and her Ph.D. from UGA in 1994. Her main research interests have been a group of inherited neurological diseases in dogs, with recent studies focusing on Bernese Mountain dogs and Jack Russell Terriers.
She has been given every award for teaching offered in the College of Veterinary Medicine: the UGA Teaching Academy Award and the David Tyler Award for Teaching Innovation in 2005; the Faculty Recognition Award in 2004; the Pfizer Carl Norden Distinguished Teacher Award and the Faculty Recognition Award in 2003; The ACVP Student Chapter Adviser Recognition Award in 2002; the UGA Lilly Teaching Fellowship in 1996; and the Faculty Recognition Award in 1994.
Among her major teaching innovations, Carmichael developed a unique opthalmology/ophthalmic master’s program in collaboration with ophthalmologists in the Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery; developed “The Dog Doctors Educational Outreach Program;” and is the co-project director of the USDA Multicultural Scholars Project, “Promoting Cultural Diversity in the Veterinary Workforce.”
Given her busy schedule, it is not surprising that one of the qualities most praised in Carmichael is her enthusiasm, which her students say is contagious.
“Dr. Carmichael had such an enthusiasm for the subject of veterinary pathology, that when I was a vet student struggling to choose a career path in veterinary medicine, she was the single most important influence on me to choose what became my passion,” says former student Lauren Richey, now a veterinary pathologist at the Tufts-New England Medical Center. “She was the most outstanding teacher
I encountered in vet school or undergraduate school and was truly as mentor in every sense of the word.”
“To say that Dr. Carmichael is a favorite with our veterinary students would be a huge underestimation,” says Brown. “They adore her. Dr. Carmichael has everything it takes to reach her students—empathy, expertise, intelligence, humor and panache.”
Before Carmichael’s presence in UGA’s professional pathology curriculum, only one student every other year might apply to pathology residencies, according to Brown.
“Today, there are three to five students per year who do this, which is certainly more than any other college of veterinary medicine across the country,” says Brown. “Basically, Dr. Carmichael is inspiring so many students to follow in her path.”
Karl Espelie Professor of Entomology
By Stephanie Schupska
During drop-add and advisement periods, it’s not unusual for Karl Espelie to be at his office at 7 a.m. and arrive home at 11 p.m. During the rest of the year, those hours aren’t shortened by much, according to UGA student Jenna Thomason.
“I never imagined coming to a university comprised of some 33,000 students and finding a professor who cares so much,” Thomason says. “And he does not only care about me. He is always willing to help out anyone and everyone.”
Comments like these are echoed continuously in recommendation letters, student evaluations and a Meigs Professorship nomination from Espelie’s department head, Ray Noblet.
Espelie, or “Dr. E” as many students know him, has a joint appointment in entomology and biology. He advises 300 students in biology and pre-med majors in the Honors Program, mentors four to eight teaching assistants per year, serves as a mentor and colleague to younger entomology faculty and had all seven students he recommended accepted to the Medical College of Georgia in 2004.
“Dr. Espelie is an exceptional faculty member with a passion for undergraduate teaching and advising that is truly rare,” Noblet says. “I include advising because it is a vital role of a teacher, and so often the greatest impact a teacher may have in the life of a student is not limited to just activity in the classroom.”
For the past 13 years, Espelie has taught an introductory entomology class both fall and spring semesters. He also teaches two honors biology classes per semester and leads a sophomore seminar in modern biology in the spring. He joined UGA’s faculty in 1986.
“Whether it was his wearing of various insect-decorated T-shirts, his remembering a student’s birthday with a jar of honey or his sharing of his life experiences in hopes of teaching us an important point, Dr. Espelie has a uniqueness about him that leaves all of his students better people for having known him,” says UGA student Mary Wolfe.
“I am positive that not all professors could succeed in making sorority girls excited about eight-legged creepy crawlers, intriguing jocks with beautiful butterflies,” Thomason says. “Very few students are required to take ENTO 2010, and yet, because of the reputation of the course and its professor, the class roster is full every semester.”
Comments like these are common: “Above and beyond, Dr. Karl Espelie is
the most outstanding human being
I have had the privilege of meeting. . . He is just amazing. This was a great
class, and I’m going to miss coming to it every week. . . I could not have
asked for a better mentor/adviser/teacher.”
Corrie Brown, a Meigs Professor and head of pathology at UGA’s College of Veterinary Medicine, sums up his influence: “Karl Espelie is the epitome of the term ‘mentor’—the type of professor who invests in students, guides them very graciously and greatly enhances the profile of our university through the contributions that our graduates go on to achieve.”
Edward Halper Professor of Philosophy
By Kim Cretors
Edward C. Halper is known among philosophy students at UGA as both exciting and demanding. His colleagues know him as an innovator who has published two papers on teaching. Halper has shared his passion for teaching and learning though a career at UGA spanning more than 20 years.
His students are consistently enthusiastic about Halper’s teaching. One typical comment notes that Halper’s teaching style “consisted of actually engaging the class in intelligent discussion as opposed to just lecturing.” “Best class I’ve ever taken” is a frequent student comment, and many students take more than one course from him. “Halper’s classes on Plato, Aristotle and the medieval philosophers have been the high points of my education at the university,” reports one student. Another claims to have put off graduation to take a course from Halper.
So it may be surprising to hear Victoria Davion, head of the philosophy department, say that while “many students are obsessed with getting A’s, it was not unusual for students to tell me that although they didn’t get an A, Halper’s class was their favorite and that it was worth it.” Many students echo the one who says, “I am a straight A student and will more than likely receive a B in this course; however, it remains true that I have never learned so much in ten weeks, and it has been a most rewarding experience.”
Halper has published more than 40 research papers and two books, One and Many in Aristotle’s Metaphysics: The Central Books (1989) and Form and Reason: Essays in Metaphysics (1993). He has two additional books on Aristotle under contract.
Halper makes a point of teaching new courses, says Davion. Three of the four courses he taught in 2005 were new to him, and even when he repeats a course he always tries to teach different texts. He works to find ways of introducing new themes and unusual and provocative texts, according to Davion.
Halper was formerly the department’s graduate coordinator and revitalized the graduate program. He also developed and taught a course in teaching instruction for graduate assistants and continues to guest lecture on teaching in the course each year. That presentation, entitled “Teaching as a Moral Activity,” is the most inspirational talk in the course, according to Davion.
And then there are the personal contacts outside the classroom. One former student, now a philosophy professor himself, says that Halper is a caring and thoughtful friend. During “holidays his home is always filled with students and faculty who have no family to visit.” Frank Harrison, Halper’s colleague in the philosophy department, says that Halper and his wife often have students and others to their home for dinner.
A final student comment sums up Halper’s effect on his students and colleagues: “Some lives are changed by influential people teaching influential courses. Mine was.”
Janice Simon Associate Professor of Art History
By Kim Cretors
In her 18 years at UGA lecturing in American art modernism, photography and spirituality in modern art, Janice Simon has gained a reputation as a committed and passionate teacher.
“To say she is passionate is actually an understatement, as she is a true visionary,” says Carmon Colangelo, director of the art school. “Through her depth of focus, Dr. Simon is able frequently to reach moments of true revelation that have profoundly motivated students to go beyond ordinary thought in order to look at the world and art in extraordinary ways.”
Simon received a Ph.D. with Great Distinction from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and her dissertation, “The Crayon 1855-1861: The Voice of Nature in Criticism, Poetry and the Fine Arts” is regularly cited.
One former student says Simon’s secret to success is that she never repeats herself. Simon spends hours preparing for every class, incorporating innovative approaches with new research, new images and new ideas.
“Every class is an exciting opportunity for us as ‘a community of learners’ to learn more about an artist, an art object, a cultural period, a historical moment and a related poet, novelist, musician, filmmaker, philosopher or scientist,” says Simon.
In her writing-intensive courses, Simon’s students learn about art not through the standard “slide-only presentation,” but through poetry readings, historical quotations, sociopolitical discourse, film screenings and music. All of Simon’s students may feel like the one who says, “I feel like clapping every time she finishes a lecture.”
In addition to her regular teaching load, which consists of two courses (undergraduate to graduate, survey-level to seminar) every semester and frequently a freshman or Honors seminar, Simon teaches a “frightening number of extra classes,” says her colleague Shelley Zuraw. “Janice can never say no to anyone who asks her to teach one more class or to take on one more student.” And then there’s the fact that she has taught the long session each of the past three summer semesters.
In 2005 alone, Simon produced and published 13 short essays on the masterpieces of the Telfair Museum of Art collection, which involved research into a vast array of artists and works of art from early Colonial painting through 20th-century abstraction.
In 2001, she was curator of an exhibition and author of a major catalog entitled “Images of Contentment: John Frederick Kensett and the Connecticut Shore” at the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, Conn. She has curated five other exhibitions and published more than a dozen journal articles, book chapters and catalog essays—all this while simultaneously working on a full-length book during the past several years.
“As a teacher-scholar, I hope to see through my students’ eyes something unnoticed before in an image, make a new connection to history or the other arts or learn a new bit of information,” says Simon.
Robert Shewfelt Professor of Food Science and Technology
By Stephanie Schupska
Rob Shewfelt has stayed busy during his nine years in Athens. He’s developed three courses, completely revised three classes and participates in teaching two additional courses. Plus, he actively recruits students as his department’s undergraduate coordinator.
“Rob’s teaching philosophy centers on understanding the student perspective and making his instruction relevant to their frame of reference,” says Rakesh Singh, head of the food science and technology department. “If students are able to link classroom material with what is happening in their own lives, they become a part of the educational process rather than just receivers of information.”
In 1996, Shewfelt moved from Griffin where he was a full-time researcher to his current position in Athens as a professor and undergraduate coordinator. While in Griffin, he received a superior service award for group research for post-harvest systems research. And he brought that winning enthusiasm with him.
In 2002, he received the D.W. Brooks Award for Excellence in Teaching from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. In 2004, CAES and UGA awarded him the Outstanding Adviser/Mentor Award, and in 2005, he was selected as a senior teaching fellow for the university and inducted into the Teaching Academy.
He serves as coach for the department’s college bowl team, and the Food Science Club selected him as the undergraduate professor of the year in 1998 through 2001 and 2003 and its graduate professor of the year in 1994 and 1998.
“To make a difference in one person’s life is an achievement upon itself, but to make an impression on several students on a daily basis? This is something that Dr. Shewfelt has done and will continue to do every day of his life,” says Mark Jarrard, UGA graduate student. “I am fortunate to have had him as a professor.”
“Dr. Shewfelt’s strongest assets are his genuineness, concern and excitement,” says Laura Vines, a UGA food science graduate who is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in food science at Michigan State University. “His classes are packed, and I have yet to see an equal in learning environment.”
Shewfelt’s influence extends outside his normal classroom.
According to Singh, his Chocolate Science freshman seminar has been featured on WSB-TV, in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the banner of the UGA Web site. He presented his chocolate message to four dormitory groups, two evening honors sessions, industry advisory group to the Career Center, the Franklin College advisers and a UGA alumni group.
In the chocolate science course, “he encouraged us to create a chocolate product from our own imagination and food science knowledge,” says Rebecca Creasy, a UGA food science major. “Through this product development assignment, I discovered confidence in my abilities as both a student and a food scientist.”
Columns
is produced by the UGA News Service, a unit of UGA Public Affairs. 286 Oconee St., Ste. 200N, Athens, GA 30602-1999 Juliett
Dinkins (jdinkins@uga.edu):
editor (706) 542-8017, Janet Beckley (jbeckley@uga.edu):
art director (706) 542-8170, Peter Frey (pfrey@uga.edu):
photo editor (706) 542-8086, Matthew
Weeks (mweeks@uga.edu): senior reporter (706) 542-8024, Sara
Freeland (freeland@uga.edu): reporter (706) 542-8077
Questions or comments should be directed to columns@uga.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 2007-2008 University of Georgia. All rights reserved
The University of Georgia • Athens, GA 30602 | UGA Directory Assistance
706/542-3000
UGA Home | UGA Today | Public
Affairs Directory
