News Release

Local angles: Boone, Clinton, Durham, Branchburg, N.J.;
Canandaigua, N.Y.; Lansdale, Penn.; and Blacksburg, Va.

Professors, staff and teaching assistants honored
by UNC students in ceremony today (April 17)

CHAPEL HILL - Students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill honored three faculty members, one staff member and six teaching assistants today (April 17) for excellence in undergraduate teaching.

The winning faculty members for the 2006 Student Undergraduate Teaching Awards were Dr. Greg Gangi, director of student affairs at the Carolina Environmental Program; Dr. Nasser Isleem, a lecturer in Asian studies; and Donna LeFebvre, a lecturer in political science.

The staff member honored was Brian Payst, director of UNC's Office of Technology and Systems Support for Student Affairs.

The teaching assistants honored were graduate students Jared Anderson, a fourth-year doctoral student in religious studies from Canandaigua, N.Y.; Kerry Callahan-Mandulak, a second-year student in speech and hearing sciences from Lansdale, Penn.; Jeremy A. Pienik, a sixth-year doctoral student in sociology from Branchburg, N.J.; David Pizzo, a seventh-year doctoral student in history from Durham; Timothy J. Williams, a third-year doctoral student in history from Blacksburg, Va.; and Laura Higbie York, a third-year doctoral student in Romance languages from Boone.

The student body president for 2005-2006, Seth Dearmin, recognized the winners at the annual Chancellor's Awards ceremony. Each faculty member received $5,000, the staff member $1,000 and each teaching assistant $1,000.

The Student Undergraduate Teaching Awards are the only teaching awards directed and funded by students. The awards were created in 1989 when students voted to increase their fees to fund the awards.

Students submit nominations to an 11-member student awards selection committee. Committee members review nominations submitted by undergraduates and interview students to select the winners. This year, the committee received about 50 nominations.

"As the only teaching and staff awards funded, nominated and selected entirely by undergraduate students, these awards provide a unique opportunity for students to recognize and reward our faculty and employees who are at the heart of a great undergraduate education," said Jonathan McNeill, a Durham junior who chaired the selection committee with Joel Starling, a senior from Clinton. "We thank each of the award recipients for their dedication to our undergraduate education here at UNC."

The committee chooses recipients for outstanding teaching that benefits individual students, and because they promote the value of undergraduate teaching by their example; demonstrate concern for each student through interaction and approachability inside and outside the classroom; create meaningful learning experiences; and maintain high expectations of students.

Gangi holds a master's degree from the University of South Carolina and a doctorate in ecology from UNC. He is a tropical ecologist and is interested in sustainable development and public policy. Also an assistant research professor, he joined the Carolina Environmental Program in 2000. He previously won a Student Undergraduate Teaching Award at UNC as a graduate teaching assistant.

Isleem earned a bachelor's degree at Bluefield State College in West Virginia in English literature, a master's degree in educational management from the Cary campus of Strayer University. He has been a lecturer at UNC since 2003.

LeFebvre, who has been at UNC since 1984, graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with honors from the University of South Carolina, then earned a law degree, also with honors, at UNC. She has received the undergraduate teaching award twice before, in 1995 and 2000.

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Student committee chair contact: Jonathan McNeill, jonm4102@email.unc.edu
News Services contact: L.J. Toler, (919) 962-8589