The U Teaching Committee honored four professors from across campus with the Early Career Teaching Award.
Amalia Cochran, a professor of surgery, K. Bo Foreman a professor of physical therapy, Jordan Gerton, a professor of physics, and Glen Feighery, a professor of communication, were this year’s recipients, and were each nominated by students and members of their departments. The professors will each receive a $2,500 cash prize, which will be added onto their next paycheck.
“I’m 468212;I’m happy to have an early-career anything,” Feighery said.
Feighery went back to school for his doctorate degree when he was 39 years old. At the time, he was working as a copy editor in Reno, Nev. Feighery went to the University of North Carolina and then came back west to the U, where he said he plans to stay. Feighery is the first teacher to receive the award in the department of communication.
Foreman started his prerequisites at Montana State University and graduated from the U in 1994 in the physical therapy program. He then spent several years working in community clinics. Foreman received his doctorate in anatomy from the U in 2005. He spent a year as a visiting professor before he was hired as an assistant professor.
“Students are a driving force in my teaching,” Foreman said. “It’s nice to be acknowledged.”
The most influential part of the teachers’ résumés and profiles are the comments by colleagues in letters of recommendation and the comments students make in evaluations, said Rick Ash, chair of the teaching committee.
The committee divided into groups of three and each group looked over a few profiles. The information and profiles of teachers were provided online so that committee members could look over profiles before their March meeting, when they chose the winners.
The four teachers picked were far above the others, Ash said.
In the divided groups, sometimes a committee member could be heard saying “I’d love to go to this class,” or something similar, Ash said. Newer teachers have a lot more responsibilities than those who have been teaching for years, he said.
“Their profiles were just as impressive as the faculty that had been teaching for over 30 years,” Ash said. “We have impressive young faculty.”
The committee is comprised of 20 members who meet once a month throughout the school year. The committee also determines recipients of the Calvin S. and JeNeal N. Hatch Prize in Teaching and the Distinguished Teaching Award.