A professor of basic medical sciences has been chosen as the recipient of the 2005 University Distinguished Teaching Award. Charles Ouimet, who serves as co-chair of basic medical sciences and is also a professor of biological science, was recognized during the annual Faculty Awards Ceremony on April 11.
“I think the key to good teaching is having great students who respond to your enthusiasm in kind and challenge you intellectually,” Ouimet said. “Our students are so engaging that you cannot help but to care about them. The Distinguished Teaching Award says more about the ability of these students to motivate a professor than the other way around.”
The Distinguished Teaching Award includes a $7,500 stipend.
Ouimet, who came to FSU in 1988, earned his doctorate in biology/neuroscience from Brown University in 1980. He then completed three years of post-doctoral study in the pharmacology department at the Yale University College of Medicine. Afterward, Ouimet joined the faculty at Rockefeller University for a few years before joining the FSU faculty.
During the annual ceremony, the university honored its most outstanding teachers, researchers and advisers. The other award recipients were:
- University Advising Awards ($2,000 stipend): Thesla Berne-Anderson, Medicine; Carol Bullock, economics; and Scott Thorp, Information. The three were praised for the service they provide to students.
“This is fitting recognition of their tremendous support for our students,” said Dr. J. Ocie Harris, dean of Medicine, of both Ouimet and Berne-Anderson. “They are very good at what they do and are certainly deserving of these awards.”
“Carol Bullock is a simply great adviser,” said Jim Cobbe, professor and chairman of economics. “She loves spending time with students and she has a real knack for guiding them to make good decisions. She knows the department and our programs so well that her dealings with students and instructors almost always have positive outcomes and leave all
of us feeling we have good programs that continually get better. Most of us don’t realize how much it is because of her.”
“Scott is an outstanding advisor who knows the college’s programs and university requirements inside and out,” said Lawrence Dennis, dean of Information. “He cares deeply about students and goes the extra mile to help students get the most out of their time at FSU. In addition, Scott plays a very active role in communicating the needs of undergraduates to the College and its faculty.”
- Undergraduate Teaching Awards ($2,000 stipend): Jon Ahlquist, meteorology; Michael Buchler, Music; Pamela Carroll, middle and secondary education; Peter Dalton, philosophy; Kimberly Harris, Dedman School of Hospitality; Frank Johnson, psychology; David Kangas, religion; Martin Kavka, religion; Jeffrey Keesecker, Music; Daniel Klooster, geography; Frank Kowalsky, Music; Vickie Lake, elementary and early childhood education; Cathy Levenson, nutrition, food and exercise sciences; Steven Mills, family and child sciences; Dennis Moore, English; Linda M. Rogers, mathematics; Michael Rychlik, middle and secondary education; Zeina Schlenoff, modern languages and linguistics; Matthew Shaftel, Music; James Simpson, industrial and manufacturing engineering; Michelle Stebleton, Music; and Kimberly VanWeelden, Music.
- Graduate Teaching Awards ($2,000 stipend): Paul Marty, Information; and Robert Reeves, biological sciences.
- Developing Scholar Awards (up to $6,000 in grant monies for research): Carol Anne Clayson, meteorology; Thomas Houpt, biological science; Joel Kostka, oceanography; Anuj Srivastava, statistics; and Daniel Vitkus, English.
- Distinguished Research Professor Awards (three are awarded annually to recognize outstanding research or creative activity): James Brooks, physics; Namas Chandra, mechanical engineering; and Ken Roux, biological science.
- Superior Liberal Studies Honors Teaching Award ($2,000 stipend): William Belford, English; and Suzanne M. Sinke, history.