1999
Northeastern State University
Faculty of the Year

The Faculty Council, along with the entire NSU Community, is very pleased to announce this year's inductees into the Northeastern State University Faculty Circle of Excellence. These awards are the highest annual honors given to NSU faculty for excellence in teaching, research, and service. Our recipients this year have certainly set a high standard for all of us to emulate. Congratulations for a job very well done!

 

Faculty of the Year for Teaching

Dr. Bill Edmondson
Professor of Optometry
College of Optometry


Faculty of the Year for Research

Dr. James Alexander
Assistant Professor of Political Science
College of Social & Behavioral Sciences


Faculty of the Year for Service

Dr. Terri Baker
Professor of English
College of Arts and Letters



In a addition to a number of mementos recognizing this high honor, including a brick with their names inscribed added to the NSU Faculty Circle of Excellence (in front of Seminary Hall), Vice President Pate has provided through the Office of Academic Affairs each recipient with his/her choice of either a new Pentium computer for their office or $2,000 to be used for research or professional development to assist them in their continuing work for excellence at NSU.

News Release:
Circle of Excellence Award
05/04/99

Every year, Northeastern State University chooses three

faculty members for its Circle of Excellence Award, formerly called the

Faculty of the Year Award, for service, teaching and research.  A

reception was held Thursday, April 29 in the NSU Jazz Lab to honor this

year's winners.

"All of the candidates for this year's awards epitomize devotion and

dedication to the University community and the Tahlequah community,"

said NSU President Larry Williams.  "It was very difficult to choose one

person for each category as each candidate has gone above and beyond the

call of duty.  Their accomplishments are a shining example of the high

caliber of faculty we have here at NSU."

Those chosen for the award this year are: teaching, Dr. Bill Edmondson,

optometry professor; service, Dr. Terri Baker, English professor; and

research, Dr. James Alexander, political science assistant professor.

"The fact that the committee had such difficulty selecting just one

winner in each category is indicative of the excellent quality of work

we have happening here on campus," said Bill Wallace, chairman of the

Faculty Awards Committee and associate professor of speech.  "Any one of

the applicants would have been worthy winners, and in

many ways it is too bad we only get to honor three people every year."

Edmondson was recognized for his extensive work in the College of

Optometry. He not only educates optometry students, but post-graduate

residents and practicing optometrists, as well.

"It is a tremendous honor to be chosen," said Edmondson.  "It is a very

stringent process and the way the committee has structured the process

lets us recognize the support we receive from academia and from our

individual departments."

Baker was lauded for her activities with the ITESM program, being

current state president of the American Association of University

Professors, all her work with the Native-American population on campus

and the numerous presentations she gives covering the Native-American

culture.

"My mother is the inspiration for all the work that I have done," said

Baker.  "She attended a Presbyterian mission school for Choctaw children

in the 1920s, and she taught me that education is the way for us to

survive.  I am honored, but couldn't have done any of the service work

without the help from many of my friends and fellow faculty."

Alexander has done extensive research into the changes in the Russian

political process and was recognized for his meaningful research.

"I am quite excited and honored to be chosen from such a large pool of

qualified candidates," said Alexander.  "To be chosen as the top faculty

in research among such well-respected professors means a great deal to

me."

Fellow faculty and students nominate faculty members for the award and

each nominee must submit a portfolio of their accomplishments to a

committee made up of past award winners.

The winners of this year's award received a certificate of appreciation

and a plaque, and the option of getting a new computer with the latest

technology or a $2,000 professional development/research stipend, as

well as a brick inscribed with their name to be placed in the Circle of

Excellence in front of historic Seminary Hall.