SPHHS Faculty Members Receive Teaching Awards

Image

Three faculty members in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences recently received awards for their outstanding teaching.

Elizabeth Bertone-Johnson, professor of epidemiology and interim chair of the department of health promotion and policy, was one of three UMass Amherst faculty selected for the 2019 Distinguished Teaching Award by the Institute for Teaching Excellence and Faculty Development (TEFD). The highly competitive award, given on the UMass Amherst campus for over 30 years, honors exemplary teaching at the highest institutional level.

Provost John McCarthy presented Bertone-Johnson with the award at the UMass Honors Dinner held in late April. She is the first faculty member from the department of biostatistics and epidemiology to receive the award.

A member of the UMass Amherst faculty since 2001, Bertone-Johnson previously received a Fulbright Award in 2015, the university’s Exceptional Merit Award in 2014, and the SPHHS Outstanding Teacher Award in 2007, among her numerous recognitions.

Jill Hoover, assistant professor of communication disorders, is the recipient of the 2018-19 College Outstanding Teacher Award sponsored by the UMass Amherst Provost’s Office and the Center for Teaching & Faculty Development. It is given annually to honor individual faculty members for their teaching accomplishments.

During the 2018-19 academic year, Hoover taught undergraduate courses in phonetic processing and speech and language disorders and a graduate course in phonological disorders.

The School of Public Health and Health Sciences named Thomas St. Laurent, lecturer and undergraduate program director in the department of kinesiology, as its 2018-2019 SPHHS Outstanding Online Teacher. The award, given annually by the School, recognizes excellence in online teaching.

In recommending St. Laurent for the award, a nominator wrote, “Students comment that after taking an online class with Tom that they now understand the value and potential of the online learning environment. He integrates classroom recordings and other materials often reserved for the classroom into his online classes, meaning that students experience the class ‘live’ at their own pace. He never lets his courses get stale with constant updates relating to diversity, inclusion, content and technology use.”