Excellence in Teaching & Research

President Awards 13 for Excellence with Teaching, Research Professorships

Thirteen faculty from the College of Arts & Sciences have won special Professorships from Texas Tech University President Lawrence Schovanec for 2018. They are:

Receiving the 2018 President's Excellence in Teaching Professorship

• Dominick Casadonte, Minnie Stevens Piper Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Idoia Elola, Professor of Spanish & Applied Linguistics, Department of Classical & Modern Languages & Literatures
• Ron Milam, Associate Professor of History, Department of History & 
  Executive Director of the Institute for Peace & Conflict (IPAC)
• Dimitri Pappas, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Jill Patterson, Professor of English, Department of English
• Roman Taraban, Professor of Experimental Psychology (Cognition & Cognitive Neuroscience), Department of Psychological Sciences
• Julie Willett, Associate Professor of History, Department of History

Receiving the 2018 President's Excellence in Research Professorship

• Todd Anderson, Professor of Environmental Chemistry, Department of Environmental Toxicology, and Interim Director of  The Institute for Environmental & Human Health (TIEHH)
• Howard Curzer, Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy
• Tom Maccarone, Professor of Astrophysics, Department of Physics & Astronomy
• Paul Paré, Professor of Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, and Director for the Center for Global Communications
• John Poch, Professor of English, Department of English
• Edward Quitevis, Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry & Joint Professor of Physics, Department of Physics & Astrophysics

Presentation of awards will take place during the April 18 Faculty Convocation, beginning at 3:30 p.m. in the SUB Ballroom.

The Professorships start Sept. 1, 2018, and last for three years. Each one brings with it an annual minimum of $5,000 in discretionary funding. Those receiving the President's Excellence in Teaching Professorship will use the money to support teaching activities. Those receiving the President's Excellence in Research Professorship will use the money to support research or creative activities. And, based on what they achieve during this three-year period, winners may apply for a second three-year term.

How they Were Selected

The selection process for these Professorships began with a careful review of documentation affirming each applicant's demonstrated excellence in teaching or in scholarly research and creative activity. Next, a teaching-excellence review committee or a research-excellence review committee submitted recommendations to the Provost. Then a second round of reviews was made by the Vice Provosts, in the case of the teaching awards, or by the Vice Provosts and the Associate Vice President for Research, in the case of the research awards. Recommendations were then submitted to the Provost who, after making his own assessments, referred a final list of recipients to the President for approval.