UA professor Jack Elliot has been named Region V Outstanding Educator of the Year by the Association for Career and Technical Education, making him the first person from Arizona to win the prestigious honor.
Elliot, a professor of agriculture education, said he was humbled to be nominated for the award by friends and colleagues within the department.
"It's great to be recognized by your peers and even more special to be acknowledged by people you work with, and bring an honor such as this back to a great institution like the U of A," Elliot said.
James Knight, agricultural education department head, said Elliot's plate is always full and that no one works harder and is more deserving of the award than Elliot.
Knight, who has known Elliot for upward of 20 years, said his research, instant connection with people in his field, and his long commitment of service to the department is what set him apart from the competition.
"He's exceptional in every way," Knight said.
After being nominated for the award by his colleagues, Elliot said he made a 10-minute videotape of himself in order to be considered for the award, which includes 14 Western states.
He answered questions of how he thinks education will advance and where it will be in the coming years, and he said the to-the-point presentation was a bit of a challenge.
"It was a bit daunting to explain what I wanted to say without props and just talking in front of a camera for 10 minutes," Elliot said.
The award was presented to Elliot at the Association for Career and Technical Education Annual Convention and Career Tech Expo, which was held Dec. 9 through Dec. 11, in Las Vegas.
The ACTE is the national professional association for the field of career and technical education. Now in its 78th year, ACTE's membership numbers more than 30,000 teachers, counselors and administrators at the middle school, high school and postsecondary levels.
In order to be considered for the award, Elliot sent the ACTE letters of recommendation from other professors in his field and a promotional tenure packet describing what he teaches and other activities he is involved in at the UA.
He said the long process of consideration for the prestigious honor was intense and time consuming, but the breadth of what he is involved in at the UA ultimately won him the award.
Elliot's outgoing personality and generosity with his time is appreciated by both students and faculty, demonstrating that the award was not just given to Elliot, but also showed how he earned the honor, Knight said.
"He's an outstanding professor and we're lucky to have him," Knight said.
Elliot has taught agricultural education at the UA for 12 years, and has recently taken on several other responsibilities such as faculty associate of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Office of Academic Programs.
Elliot is also a professor of an interdisciplinary doctoral degree program and directs the department's distance education program.
He said teaching is what is ultimately most important to him. Elliot said he gets great enjoyment working with his students. "I'd have to say I learn more from them than they learn from me," he said.
Knight agreed and said teaching is important to Elliot, as enrollment in his classes is always full because students enjoy his classes and respond well to his effective ways of teaching.
Elliot also serves as a member of the Arizona State Board of Education Career and Technical Education advisory committee and co-chaired the Arizona CTE teacher certification committee.
For the past 13 years, Elliot has managed an Arizona Department of Education Career and Technical grant, coordinating with Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, Arizona Tech Prep directors, as well as staff positions and the entire Department of Agricultural Education faculty.