Published by Communications and Public Affairs (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338
News Release
October 25, 2002
U of G faculty association recognizes seven professors
The editor of one of the world’s best plant science journals, an award-winning teacher and cancer researcher and an engineering professor who has dedicated his career to improving water quality are among five professors honoured by the University of Guelph Faculty Association (UGFA) with Distinguished Professorial Teaching Awards.
Two other professors – a pathobiologist who implemented Web-based teaching long before it became customary, and a mathematics and statistics expert who has led the effort to integrate computing in the teaching of statistics – received the prestigious Special Merit Awards for teaching innovation, presented by UGFA at an Oct. 24 ceremony.
The awards are made on the basis of student evaluations, letters of support from students and colleagues and the recipients’ efforts in the area of curriculum development.
This year’s winners of the Distinguished Professorial Teaching Awards are:
-- Larry Peterson, Department of Botany, College of Biological Sciences. The current editor of the Canadian Journal of Botany was cited by students for his knowledge, effectiveness and enthusiasm, among other qualities.
-- Frances Sharom, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Physical and Engineering Science (CPES). She is the recipient of previous teaching awards, including a 1992 Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations award and is a groundbreaking cancer researcher.
-- Doug Joy, School of Engineering, CPES. Joy’s work has included the formation the Ontario Rural Wastewater Center as well as studying surface water quality problems and how to minimize them.
-- Richard Moccia, Department of Animal and Poultry Science, Ontario Agricultural College. An aquaculture expert and certified fish health official, Moccia was cited as being “an interactive classroom teacher, a remarkable mentor, a tireless extension educator.”
-- Ian Barker, Department of Pathogiology, Ontario Veterinary College (OVC). Barker is a wildlife and zoo animal pathology expert who has also advanced research in Lyme disease and gastrointestinal pathology.
-- Kenneth Dorter, Department of Philosophy, College of Arts. A member of the department since 1966, Dorter specializes in ancient Greek philosophy and Plato in particular.
Recipients of the Special Merit Awards are:
-- John Holt, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, CPES. Holt specializes in longitudinal data analysis and generalized mixed models; censored data analysis and competing risks; and statistical computing and computer-based training. He was cited for being “a pioneer in the sense that his software development occurred at the infancy of personal computers and during the non-existence of today’s sophisticated computational and graphical software packages.”
-- Tony Hayes, Department of Pathobiology at OVC. Hayes studies the mechanisms of innate resistance to bacterial infection. He was described as having “superb mentoring abilities that have shaped the careers of many graduate students.” This students have attained successful positions in a wide range of academic and industrial enterprises. “Thus, his influence on current and future generations of scientists was and continues to be profound.”
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