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Students Name Lesser Outstanding Professor
PAW Award Winners
PAW Winners from left:
John Binning, Tom Gerschick,
Jon Friesen, Jim Cottrill,
Deb Lesser, David Marx,
Gina Bessa, and Julia Palmer
Deb Lesser, Director of the College’s student-run radio station WZND, has been named the 2005 Outstanding Professor by the Student Education Association (SEA). Other College faculty won 15 of the 25 Distinguished Professor Awards as part of the SEA’s second annual Professor Appreciation Week (PAW).During PAW, students nominate professors on campus for their excellence in teaching. This year, the PAW committee reviewed over 130 nominations and selected 25 Distinguished Professors and the Outstanding Professor based on the number of student nominations and the quality of those nominations. Winners will receive a special award during one of their classes and will also be honored at a reception on March 2. "A professor is only as great as her students, and mine are the best!" said Lesser.

 

 

Recipients of the Distinguished Professor Award from the College include: Gina Bessa (Anthropology), Anne Finn Bettendorf (Biological Sciences), John Binning (Psychology), Jim Cottrill (Mathematics), James Day (Geology), Jon Friesen (Chemistry), Tom Gerschick (Sociology), Heidi Harbers (Speech Pathology and Audiology), David Marx (Physics), Christopher Mushrush (Economics), Julia Palmer (Foreign Languages), William Philpott (History), Manfred Steger (Politics and Government), and Kim Stone (English).

College Faculty also dominated last year’s Professor Appreciation Week, winning 12 of the 23 Distinguished Professor Awards. Last year’s recipients were: Patrice Olsen (History), Anthony Ostrosky (Economics), Jamal Nassar (Politics and Government), Hilary Justice (English), George Rutherford (Physics), Jodi Hallsten (Communication), Renee Tobin (Psychology), John Binning (Psychology), Saad El-Zanati (Mathematics), Marion Willets (Sociology-Anthropology), Byron Heidenreich (Psychology), and Linda Bowman (Speech Pathology and Audiology).

"I would like to commend the College's winners of the Professor Appreciation Awards," said Dean Olson. "It is clear that these professors have had a profound impact on their students, and I am pleased to see so many winners from our College."

Lesser has been on the Communication faculty for almost 20 years, teaching courses in radio, designing radio curriculum, coordinating the department’s internship program, advising students, and directing WZND radio. Under her direction, WZND has been ranked consistently among the top three university radio stations in the nation. She was named University Advisor of the Year and received an Illinois State Distinguished Service Award in 2000, and she was awarded the Outstanding University Teacher Award in 2004.

 
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