The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) have named Dr. Sarah Lea McGuire, professor of biology at Millsaps College, the 2006 Mississippi Professor of the Year.
“Dr. McGuire is a marvel,” said Dr. Richard A. Smith, senior vice president and dean of Millsaps College. “She appears to be one of those rare individuals who can do it all. She is a superb teacher and a nationally recognized scholar.” McGuire was selected from faculty members nominated by colleges and universities throughout the country.
McGuire’s scholarship focuses on identifying, cloning and characterizing new fungal genes that are involved in controlling cell division, and her teaching covers courses from Introductory Cell Biology to Science and Society. She has been instrumental in developing courses for the Millsaps core curriculum that provide broad, challenging exposure to chemistry, biology, physics and geology.
"No one works alone in science. No one accomplishes anything without the support of others around them," McGuire said. "I've been fortunate all of my life to have wonderful people surrounding me, supporting me and encouraging me. From the day I arrived at Millsaps, I have been supported by the College, the science division, the biology department and the students."
CASE established the Professors of the Year program in 1981, and the Carnegie Foundation became the co-sponsor a year later. TIAA-CREF, one of America's leading financial services organizations and higher education's premier retirement system, became the primary sponsor for the awards ceremony in 2000. A number of higher education associations, including Phi Beta Kappa, offer additional support for the program.
This year there are winners in 43 states, Guam, and the District of Columbia. CASE assembled two preliminary panels of judges to select the finalists, and the Carnegie Foundation then convened the third and final panel, which selected four national winners. CASE and Carnegie select the state winners from top entries resulting from the judging process.
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching was founded in 1905 by Andrew Carnegie “to do all things necessary to encourage, uphold and dignify the profession of teaching.” The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is the largest international association of education institutions, serving more than 3,200 universities, colleges, schools, and related organizations in 54 countries.
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