Spurr receives teaching award from Board of Governors
GREENVILLE, NC (Apr. 24, 2004) — The Board of Governors of the 16-campus University of North Carolina has selected some of its most outstanding faculty to receive the tenth annual Awards for Excellence in Teaching.During a recognition luncheon to be held in conjunction with the Board’s May meeting, a faculty member from each UNC campus will receive a commemorative bronze medallion and a $7,500 cash prize. The 16 recipients, representing an array of academic disciplines, were nominated by special committees on their home campuses and selected by the Board of Governors Committee on Personnel and Tenure, chaired by John W. Davis III of Winston-Salem.
The awards will be presented by UNC President Molly Corbett Broad and Board of Governors Chairman J. Bradley Wilson of Cary.
Winners include Barbara Yale-Read, professor of art, Appalachian State University; Michael J. Spurr, associate professor of mathematics, East Carolina University; Samuel C. Moore, professor of language, literature, and communication, Elizabeth City State University; Marvin V. Curtis, professor of music, Fayetteville State University; Patricia Shelton, associate professor of nursing, NC A&T State University; Harvey L. McMurray, Sr., associate professor of criminal justice, NC Central University; Henry R. Grillo, assistant dean of design and production, NC School of the Arts; and Robert P. Patterson, professor of crop science, NC State University.
Other winners are Michael J. Ruiz, professor of physics, UNC Asheville; Gary M. Armstrong, professor of marketing, UNC-Chapel Hill; Tyrel G. Moore, associate professor of geography, UNC Charlotte; Kelly J. Burke, professor of music, UNC Greensboro; Patricia D. Valenti, professor of English, UNC Pembroke; W. Frank Ainsley, professor of geography, UNC Wilmington; Mary Catherine Fenton, associate professor of English, Western Carolina University; and Himanshu Gopalan, associate professor of therapeutic recreation, Winston-Salem State University.
Established by the Board of Governors in April 1994 to underscore the importance of teaching and to reward good teaching across the University, the awards are given annually to a tenured faculty member from each UNC campus. Winners must have taught at their present institutions at least seven years. No one may receive the award more than once.
Barbara Yale-Read, Appalachian State University Yale-Read is an expert in hand design, but has also incorporated computer-based design techniques into her classes, even developing an 80-page website as a student resource. She has supervised numerous student interns and teaching assistants and led student trips to New York and Switzerland. An accomplished professional designer, Yale-Read has had works included in national and international juried exhibition and publications. At ASU since 1986, Professor Yale-Read’s contributions to her students were recognized with the Outstanding Faculty Award from the College of Fine and Applied Arts.
Michael J. Spurr, East Carolina University Spurr has been a leader in curriculum development in his department, including introducing instructional technology. He has developed a computer-enhanced calculus curriculum, supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation for hardware and software for the math department computer lab. Overall, he has brought in more than $146,000 in grant support from both NSF and the ECU Student Technology Program.