The University of Georgia Teaching Academy inducted 16 new members on Nov. 9 at a ceremony held at the UGA Special Collections Libraries. The 2023 inductees represented 12 colleges and schools across the university.
Josef Broder, associate dean of academic affairs in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and chair of the Teaching Academy executive board, welcomed the new members by highlighting recent accomplishments of the academy.
Through its partnerships with the Office of the President, Office of the Provost and Student Government Association, the Teaching Academy advises and recommends initiatives to enhance excellence in teaching and learning at the university.
Broder urged the faculty members to continue to serve as catalysts for effective teaching. He said that “the Teaching Academy is a faculty-created and faculty-driven group,” and he invited the new members to be involved in its service.
Sylvia Hutchinson addressed the new members of the UGA Teaching Academy. (Photo by Michele Matthews)
Sylvia Hutchinson, a charter member of the Teaching Academy and professor emerita of higher education, shared the names of the other founding members and read the Teaching Academy’s charge. “Your passion for teaching is celebrated,” Hutchinson told the inductees, and she encouraged them to open the doors of their classrooms to other colleagues as they continue to lead and mentor other faculty.
The new members were selected among recipients of the university’s teaching awards and through nominations from deans.
The UGA Teaching Academy inductees 2023 are:
- Jillian Bohlen, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
- Abigail Borron, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
- Maric Boudreau, Terry College of Business
- Krista Capps, Odum School of Ecology
- Michael Cotterell, School of Computing
- Gino D’Angelo, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
- Jennifer Elkins, School of Social Work
- Tisha Lewis Ellison, Mary Frances Early College of Education
- Kerstin Emerson, College of Public Health
- Bridget Garner, College of Veterinary Medicine
- Jason Matthews, Terry College of Business
- Amy Medlock, Medical College of Georgia
- Nancee Reeves, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
- Yoo-Kyoung Seock, College of Family and Consumer Sciences
- Erin Towery, Terry College of Business
- Kyle Woosnam, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
Teaching Academy staff compiled statements on instruction and learning from each inductee into a Words of Wisdom pamphlet. “I believe that education is not merely a fixed goal to be achieved but rather a journey that spans one’s entire life,” Boudreau said in her statement. She continued, “[Teaching is] about nurturing an insatiable desire to unearth new knowledge, dissect its nuances and understand its broader ramifications.”
After the formal induction ceremony, the Teaching Academy executive board recognized Broder’s long-standing service. Broder assisted in the drafting of the academy’s charter in 1999 and has remained an active leader of the group.
On behalf of the board, Paige Carmichael, a professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine, thanked Broder for his consistent vision and guidance of the Teaching Academy and for his supportive role as a mentor to many faculty and students across campus. Broder will retire at the end of this year and will step down as chair of the executive committee.
The University of Georgia Teaching Academy was established in fall 1999 as a forum to discuss, celebrate and promote teaching excellence. The Teaching Academy organizes the annual Academic Affairs Faculty Symposium, coordinates an early career faculty mentoring program and assists in the selection of finalists of the university’s awards recognizing outstanding instruction.
The event was possible with the funding and support of the Office of President, the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and the Terry College of Business.
More information about the Teaching Academy is at: https://teachingacademy.uga.edu/.