EDITOR’S PAGE

Faculty Who Inspire

Libby V. Morris

Published online: 1 June 2010

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Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010

At the end of each academic year, the University of Georgia (UGA), like countless other

colleges and universities across the nation, celebrates the outstanding performance of

faculty, staff, and students. Here at UGA the ceremonies of honorary societies and

designations for their outstanding accomplishments in research. These kinds of events

provoke me to thinking about the inspirational models we have around us in the academic

mileau.

My good friend and colleague, historian James C. Cobb, received the Albert Christ-Janer

Award. Professor Cobb is widely recognized as one of the foremost scholars of Southern

history and culture. He has written more than 40 articles and 12 books, mostly about the

impact of changing economic conditions on the South. Two of his books, Away Down

South: A History of Southern Identity and The Most Southern Place on Earth, his book

about the Mississippi Delta, are considered classics in the field. I point to Dr. Cobb’s award

because of the broad appeal of his work to academics and the public alike. The video

along with other students who had graduated in the top 5% of their colleges. With more

than 6000 undergraduate and 2000 graduate degrees conferred annually, the competition

for student awards is stiff; and the story is the same for f aculty members, who number

over 1800. Faculty awards at Honors Day include the Richard B. Russell Under-

graduate Teaching awards for early career faculty and the naming of outstanding teachers in

Innov High Educ (2010) 35:215–216

DOI 10.1007/s10755-010-9150-z

L. V. Morris (*)

Institute of Higher Education, University of Georgia, 102 Meigs Hall, Athens, GA 30602-6772, USA

e-mail: [email protected]

fund each year. Juanita Johnson-Bailey, professor of education and interim director of the

Institute for Women’s Studies, was named a 2010 Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor.

I recommend the video on Professor Johnson-Bailey’s award for both its professional and

personal story. See the College of Education website (http://www.coe.uga.edu/)orhttp://

www.coe.uga.edu/media/JJB_high.m4v). It has been my privilege to know Professor

Johnson-Bailey for many years; and, yes, she is inspirational on many levels. Professor

Acosta-Alzuru in the Grady College of Journalism was also named a 2010 Meigs

Distinguished Teaching Professor, and the video about her can be found at the following url

<http://www.grady.uga.edu/resources.php?al1=Resources&al2=Grady+News&page=news2.

inc.php%7CID=1102>. Perhaps these videos, or similar records at your institutions, will

of the campus culture, signifying not only individual attainment, but shared community

values. In April 2010, the University of Georgia celebrated its 225

th

anniversary as the

oldest chartered public institution of higher education in the U.S. Our motto “to teach, to

serve and to inquire into the nature of things” continues to reflect our value of teaching,

service, and research.

Great universities and colleges value their faculty as their most important resource and

the creators and keepers of campus culture. Public recognition and teaching awards,

although highly important, are not sufficient to ensure quality in instruction, faculty

change.

For an overall understanding of the role of faculty development in campus culture and

faculty lives, I recommend A Guide to Faculty Development,2

nd

ed. (2010) edited by my

associate editor, Dr. Kay Gillespie, and her colleague, Douglas Robertson. This book is a

valuable resource on faculty development at the individual, program, and college level. Kay

is a nationally recognized expert on faculty development, and I know you will find the text

useful to planning and reflecting on faculty development on your campus. I am lucky to

have Kay as friend, colleague and “editor in action” of Innovative Higher Education.

216 Innov High Educ (2010) 35:215–216