Six faculty members from disciplines across the university were recognized at a special breakfast Friday as winners of George Washington’s most prestigious teaching award.
The 2011 Bender Teaching Award winners are: Assistant Professor of Chemistry Cindy Dowd, Professor of Chemistry Houston Miller, Assistant Professor of Nursing Kim Acquaviva, Assistant Professor of English Holly Dugan, Elliott School of International Affairs Lecturer Michele Clark and Professor of Clinical Management and Leadership Ozgur Ekmekci.
The Bender Awards recognize undergraduate, graduate and professional teaching at George Washington and are presented annually at the start of the academic year. Endowed by university supporter Morton Bender and the university, the awards provide a $500 prize to be used for faculty development activities.
George Washington Provost Steven Lerman spoke about this year’s winners at the 2011 Faculty Assembly Oct. 4. In his remarks, Dr. Lerman called them “an extraordinary group.”
“They bring an energy, excitement and passion for their disciplines,” said Dr. Lerman. “They’re world-class researchers—many have already published widely—and they bring a passion for teaching that I think will serve our students incredibly well into the future.”
Entering her fourth year at GW, Dr. Dowd said she was surprised she received a Bender Award. Dr. Dowd, who teaches courses in advanced organic chemistry, said she enjoys teaching at George Washington, in part because of the chemistry’s department intimate class sizes.
“I think like most faculty I put a lot of effort in my teaching, and I really spend a lot of time thinking about the message I’m conveying, so it was really nice to be distinguished [with an award],” she said. “But I didn’t expect it to happen quite as quickly!”
Dr. Acquaviva said the Bender Awards signify how much George Washington values its faculty’s work in the classroom.
“I was really excited when I found out I won,” she said. “I know it’s a really respected award for teaching, and I feel like it recognizes how important teaching is at GW. It helped confirm for me why I like teaching here.”
At the breakfast, which was held in the Media and Public Affairs Building, the award winners had the opportunity to talk about why they choose teaching as a profession.
Dr. Dugan, who teaches courses on Shakespeare and medieval and early modern studies, told the group that while she was always an avid reader, she had no concept of where that passion could take her.
Nominated in the general Bender Award category, Dr. Dugan said her mother worked as a secretary at a university near their home so she could go to school—and the experience steered her to a profession in teaching.
“College blew my mind. It was a complete world of ideas that I had never experienced,” she said. “I wanted to spend forever there, and now I get to.”
Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning Steve Ehrmann said the Bender Award winners will be featured in videos produced by GW’s new Teaching & Learning Collaborative— a faculty-driven center for teaching excellence and a signature initiative of the newly created Office of Teaching and Learning—where they will share their ideas about teaching.
“I'm new to GW. If these faculty members are typical of all our faculty, then GW is hands-down the best teaching institution in the country,” said Dr. Ehrmann, who came to George Washington earlier this year from the nonprofit Teaching Learning and Technology Group. “They continually study their own fields, their own students and even how their colleagues teach. They’re delightful people, and it's been an honor to get to know them.”