UNCW faculty recognized for teaching excellence
8/17/2004 5:24:09 PM
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Aug. 17, 2004
WILMINGTON, N.C.--Robert G. Blundo, associate professor of social work in the College of Arts and Sciences, was awarded the UNCW Board of Trustees Teaching Excellence Award Tuesday, Aug. 17 at the fall faculty meeting. He was among six faculty members recognized for their teaching excellence and scholarship.
Blundo received the award in recognition of his significant contributions to higher education through dedication and service to students. First presented in 1978, this award is designed to exemplify the university’s commitment to teaching excellence, with the recipient receiving a one-time $1,500 stipend and a medallion.
Blundo is regarded as an “effective and innovative teacher” by his colleagues and as an “accessible and caring professor” by his students. He was awarded a World Health Organization grant to assess the health and social needs of Bolton area residents. This led to the development of an interdisciplinary service-learning course on participatory research involving students in nursing, social work, sociology and psychology. He also initiated an annual social work student conference to provide a forum for student presentations in league with educators and practitioners.
Blundo was also one of three faculty members to receive the Distinguished Teaching Professorship. The others were William J. Bolduc, communication studies, and Louis F. Buttino, film studies. Distinguished professorships recognize faculty who make outstanding contributions to teaching at UNCW and come with a three-year $5,000 stipend and a medallion. Nominations were solicited from each department or school, and all full-time tenured faculty were eligible.
A colleague wrote that Bolduc “successfully blends the art and science of media journalism, criticism, law, aesthetics and production” in his classes and designs learning environments to challenge students to apply theory to practice.
Through his production of documentaries, Buttino combines teaching, scholarship and service to the community. One student wrote, “No other teacher or professor has had such a positive impact on my life.” A colleague wrote that Buttino “closes a loop that few people do – learning one’s craft, excelling at it in the field and then inspiring and coaching others in those practices.”
Buttino was also awarded the third annual J. Marshall Crews Distinguished Faculty Award sponsored by the Past Chairs of the UNCW Alumni Association.
For this honor he received a $500 cash stipend and a medallion. His nominator said he “has the unique ability to instill the desire to learn without a student realizing it. His caring for each and every student, whether on an academic or personal level, is commendable and one I have not encountered before. It is obvious he has a passion for teaching, for the community and for humanity.”
Awards for faculty scholarship were presented to Ann L. Conner, art and theatre, and David LaVere, history. These annual awards, which are given to up to three faculty members, recognize significant contributions to the university and the academic community through commitment to scholarship, research and creativity. Current full-time faculty are nominated for this honor by their peers and receive a $1,500 award.
Conner, who has worked at UNCW since 1972, has been a full professor since 1991. Her international reputation is exemplified by her extensive record of exhibitions, the presence of her work in prestigious collections and the reviews and reproductions of her work in art publications.
Since he arrived at UNCW in 1993, LaVere has published four books and is working on his fifth. He is a recognized pioneer in Native American history. He also shares his research with nonacademic audiences through regular essays in Our State magazine and other publications.
Joan Willey, associate director for education at the UNCW Center for Marine Science and chemistry professor, was given the Graduate Mentor Award, which recognizes faculty who have excelled at teaching at the graduate level and who have an established record of mentoring students who earned master’s degrees. She received a $250 award and a certificate.
Willey was involved in graduate education long before the Master of Science in chemistry program began in 1989, and she helped launch the Master of Science in marine science and currently serves as its program coordinator. One of her nominating references said, “She has done a remarkable job in guiding this interdisciplinary program through its formative years. In all ways, she is an excellent mentor of graduate students; she demands excellence and is willing to put the time and effort necessary to help her students, as well as students from other research groups, reach their fullest potential.”
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