Four UI faculty members honored with top teaching award

Four University of Iowa faculty members were honored recently with the 2018 President and Provost Award for Teaching Excellence in recognition of their years of outstanding teaching.

Three recipients within the clinical or tenure/tenure track are Greg Stewart, professor of management and organization in the Tippie College of Business; Vincent Rodgers, professor of physics and astronomy in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; and William J. Sharp, professor of surgery in the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine.

A fourth award is given within the instructional track or to someone holding an adjunct faculty position. This year’s recipient is Dawn Barker Anderson, professor of legal analysis, writing, and research in the College of Law.

The award, which is administered by the UI Council on Teaching, was created in 2004 and represents the highest level of achievement in teaching given at the UI. Nominations include reference to a commitment to students and compelling evidence of the nominee’s contributions to student learning and outcomes both in and outside of the classroom. Each award carries a $3,000 honorarium.

Greg Stewart

Stewart is an expert in the study of team science and has taught classes and developed training sessions on this topic at various levels for more than 16 years. Stewart holds the Mary H. Bell Chair in Leadership in the Tippie College of Business and has taught in the undergraduate, Executive MBA and PhD programs. In addition, he is the college’s most sought-after instructor for executive education to external constituents and for interdisciplinary programs.

“Based on the totality of his record, I give my strongest recommendation to Professor Greg Stewart as one of the Tippie College’s exceptional educators,” wrote Amy Kristof-Brown, Henry B. Tippie Research Professor of Management and senior associate dean, in her recommendation. “He brings research-based evidence into all of his classroom settings, and connects with students both inside and outside the classroom. He produces learning that is instantly applicable in work settings, and in the development of skill sets that new managers will take into their workplaces.”

Vincent Rodgers

Throughout his 30 years as a member of the UI faculty, Rodgers has aspired to make concepts in physics engaging and accessible to his students.

Rodgers, professor of physics and astronomy, has an interest in seeing a more diverse group of students in STEM fields and in having the broader public engage in a dialog with scientists at the UI. He has been involved in other campus organizations that support a range of students, including underrepresented students in their studies of science, engineering, and physics. From the one-on-one tutoring he does with the Multi-Ethnic Engineering and Science Association/Iowa City Community School District tutoring program, his long-term commitment to and leadership of the Hawk-Eyes on Science Outreach Program, the Iowa Bioscience Initiative, and his coordination of the Café Scientifique, he is reaching a broad spectrum of people. Through his leadership, STEM and the Department of Physics and Astronomy outreach programs present hands-on physics activities to the broader public.

“Our students develop skills in communication and a little stagecraft along the way,” Mary Hall Reno, former DEO in the department, wrote in her recommendation. “They also develop a conviction that part of their roles as scientists will be to promote scientific literacy as a public good.” 

William J. Sharp

Sharp has been a part of the UI since 1989 and is currently the Sidney E. Ziffren, MD Professor of Surgery. In recognition of his ability and dedication, he was named vice chair for education for the Department of Surgery in 2011. Sharp focuses on integrating educational opportunities throughout the Department of Surgery for faculty, fellows, residents, and medical students.  

He served as General Surgery Program director for a total of 21 years, split into two tours of duty. Since 2001, the program has flourished with a sustained period of excellence and growth. He recently stepped down as director.

“I am hard pressed to think of any clinician who better embodies an altruistic dedication to the teaching mission of the University,” Ronald Weigel, chair and DEO of the Department of Surgery wrote in his recommendation. “Dr. Sharp stands as an exemplary mentor and role model in all facets of his professional practice, and his devotion to medical education is selfless and unwavering.”

Dawn Barker Anderson

Anderson is known for her inventive and expert teaching methods honed over 13 years on the UI law faculty. Anderson’s teaching involves continuous innovations and she has taken the lead among the faculty in assisting her colleagues in improving their courses.

The simulated exercises she presents her students help them develop their legal writing skills as well as a range of other critical skills, such as fact analysis, interviewing, and oral advocacy. She pioneered efforts to require students to work in teams, even on writing projects.

“Legal writing differs so greatly from the typical writing style, and it takes an amazing professor to successfully teach students how to analyze cases and clearly articulate conclusions in the legal-writing format,” a former research assistant wrote in their recommendation. “It was evident in every step of the legal research and writing process that Professor Anderson expended a great deal of time and effort to prepare the perfect curriculum to teach her students.”