by Madi Cannon, Public Relations Writer
The Southwest Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) presented six Cedarville University faculty members with Faculty Excellence Awards at the Dayton Art Institute on Friday, November 3.
Each year, SOCHE honors more than 50 faculty members from 17 colleges and universities in the Miami Valley. Recipients are recognized for excellence in teaching, service and scholarship. They are nominated by their college or university.
Six Cedarville faculty members were recognized for their excellence: Dr. Melissa Burns, associate professor of biology; Dr. John Delano, associate professor of information technology management; Dr. John Gilhooly, assistant professor of philosophy and theology; Dr. Tim Norman, distinguished professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering; Dr. Annis Shaver, professor of German and linguistics; and Dr. Denise Simpson, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences.
“These are faculty who are dedicated to preparing young men and women for the call that God has placed on their lives,” said Dr. Tom Mach, vice president for academics. “They recognize their teaching and mentoring as a sacred calling and challenge their students to reach their highest potential.”
Burns teaches anatomy and physiology courses, providing students with individualized attention to help them succeed. She uses her medical experience to advise many premed students in professional development and career plans, bolstering Cedarville’s high medical school acceptance rates.
Delano is known as a classroom innovator in the school of business administration. Since coming to Cedarville in 2008, he has developed new ways to introduce hands-on experiences to help students learn the business discipline.
“It is a privilege to teach at Cedarville alongside colleagues who continually pursue excellence and who regularly motivate me to do the same,” said Delano. “I consider it a great honor to receive the faculty excellence award from SOCHE, but I owe a debt of thanks to my colleagues for their impact on my career.”
Gilhooly teaches philosophy and theology with a Socratic teaching style that engages students in critical thinking and collaborative learning. As director of the honors program, he advises dozens of students through the honors curriculum.
Norman helped create the biomedical engineering minor at Cedarville. Since coming to Cedarville in 2003, he has gained a reputation for his effective teaching and extensive research in the field of biomedical engineering.
Shaver developed the linguistics major in 2013, which is now the largest major in the English, literature, and modern languages department. She serves as advisor for the German Club and coordinates Cedarville’s Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) certificate program.
“It was humbling to be selected from such a pool of deserving faculty members at Cedarville,” said Shaver. “I greatly appreciate the honor and know that it will make me want to continue to strive for excellence in my teaching.”
Simpson maintains an active research agenda, resulting in the publication of several manuscripts. She has also been granted three patents. She is one of the founding advisors for the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNAPhA), a professional pharmacy organization, which has already gained national attention for their activities.
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 3,963 undergraduate, graduate and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings and leading student satisfaction ratings. For more information about the University, visit www.cedarville.edu.