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Professors, teaching assistants and staff
honored by UNC students for excellence

CHAPEL HILL -- Students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill honored three faculty members, six teaching assistants and one staff member today (April 13) for excellence in teaching and in service to undergraduate students.

Faculty members winning 2004 Student Undergraduate Teaching Awards were Dr. Frank C. Church, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine in the School of Medicine; Michael McFee, English professor and adjunct professor in American Studies; and C.J. Skender, an adjunct professor of accounting in the Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Teaching assistant winners were:

· Natalia Deeb-Sossa, a doctoral student in sociology from Bogota, Columbia, who teaches sociology;

· Emily Fisher, a doctoral student in biology from Palo Alto, Calif., who helps teach biology;

· Maria del Carmen Cana Jiménez, a doctoral student in English from Melilla, Spain, who teaches Spanish;

· Chuck Johnson, a doctoral student in Romance philology (study of the history and development of languages) from Ennice, N.C., who teaches French;

· Elizabeth Towns, a doctoral student in art history from Charlotte who teaches art classes;

· Richard Wilburn, a doctoral student in chemistry from Cincinnati, who helps teach chemistry classes.

Jefferey "Butch" Garris of Mebane, production manager for the Carolina Union, received the first Student Undergraduate Staff Award. Staff members given honorable mentions were Eva N. Boyce of Carrboro, circulation manager in the music library; Linda Starr of Mebane, judicial programs assistant in the dean of students office; and Gary Cobb of Durham, chef for Carolina Dining Services.

Student Body President Matthew Calabria recognized the winners at the annual Chancellor’s Awards ceremony, which also honored students for excellence in academics, leadership and public service. This year’s teaching awards honored Dr. Robert Kirkpatrick, a UNC associate professor of English who died Feb. 24. Among student award winners was Kirkpatrick’s daughter, Pamela Johnston Kirkpatrick, who received a Chancellor’s Award for excellence in poetry.

"The awards were dedicated to the memory of Dr. Kirkpatrick for his unwavering dedication and excellence in undergraduate teaching," said Charlene Wong, a senior from Greenville, N.C., who co-chaired the student selection committee with Michael Brinkley, a Winston-Salem junior.

The student undergraduate awards are the only teaching and staff awards directed and funded by students. The teaching awards were created in 1989 when students voted to increase their fees to fund the awards. This year, students agreed by referendum to include a staff award. Each faculty member received $5,000, each teaching assistant $1,000 and the staff member $1,000.

Students submit nominations for both awards to a 12-member student selection committee. This year, the committee received more than 100 submissions nominating more than 40 faculty members; more than 60 submissions nominating more than 30 teaching assistants; and more than 15 submissions nominating staff members.

Committee members visit finalists’ classes unannounced, interview students randomly and interview the finalists to choose the winners. The committee chooses recipients who promote the value of undergraduate teaching by their example; demonstrate concern for students through interaction and approachability inside and outside the classroom; create meaningful learning experiences; and maintain high expectations of students.

Church, from Baton Rouge, La., has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Louisiana State University and a doctorate in protein chemistry and biochemistry from N.C. State University. He came to UNC in 1982 as a postdoctoral research fellow in pathology and was promoted to professor in 1999. His research focuses on thrombosis, cancer biology, gene transfer and protein engineering.

McFee, an Asheville native, is a Bowman and Gordan Gray Distinguished professor of English and has been on UNC’s faculty since 1994. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UNC in 1976, with highest honors in creative writing, and earned a master’s degree in English from UNC in 1978. His sixth poetry collection, "Earthly," tied for second in one of the nation’s top poetry competitions and won the 2001 Roanoke-Chowan Prize for the best poetry book in North Carolina.

Skender, from Raleigh, received a bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Penn., and a master’s degree in business administration from Duke University. He attended Lehigh on a basketball scholarship and graduated magna cum laude. Skender began teaching at UNC part time in 1991 and full time in 1997.

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Contacts: Students Charlene Wong, cawong@email.unc.edu, and Michael Brinkley, brinkmic@email.unc.edu

News Services contact: L.J. Toler, 919-962-8589, laura_toler@unc.edu