Class Acts Take Faculty Awards

USA TODAY

Oct. 8, 1998

Four college professors are being honored with national awards in Washington today for their innovative teaching methods and commitment to undergraduate education.

More than 500 professors were nominated for the annual U.S. Professors of the Year program, sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, based in California, and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, based in Washington.

Winners, who each receive $5,000, are:

Baccalaureate college: Hong Gang Jin, professor of Chinese at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. Among other achievements, Jin helped establish a consortium through which 35-40 students from 20 U.S. institutions study in Beijing. She has published four books on teaching Chinese.

Community college: Cathleen Kennedy, professor of computer and information science, College of San Mateo, in California.

Among other achievements, Kennedy spearheaded a campus technology lab that lets students work with professionals on new technology, adapted a computer science course for distance learning, and developed an on-line interactive advising program that students use to prepare for sessions with their academic counselor.

Master's university and college: Gayle Seymour, professor of art, University of Central Arkansas, in Conway. In 1996, her students wrote a grant proposal that took them to Washington, where they participated in a Smithsonian Institution meeting on outdoor sculpture.

Last semester, her seniors collaborated with local ninth-graders to create a 15-foot-by-45-foot mural.

Research and doctoral university: Sujeet Shenoi, professor of computer science, University of Tulsa. Six years ago, Shenoi developed the Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge, aimed at attracting Oklahoma students who might otherwise attend out-of-state institutions.