AIC prof named best in Arizona

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Melissa Fitch Lockhart

"It seemed as though the job description was written for me," said Lockhart, a Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American studies professor at the Arizona International Campus of the UA.

Lockhart had been teaching at North Carolina's Wake Forest University.

"When they (AIC) called me back, I thought it was a telemarketer, " she said. "But when I flew out here I was won over in a second."

Last year Lockhart was given AIC's first Professor of the Year Award, and on Sept. 27 was named Arizona's Outstanding University Educator 1997 by the Arizona Language Association.

She was nominated for the award by four state instructors including Ed Clausen, an AIC professor and the campus' academic house manager.

"She is one of the top three best teachers that I have ever encountered in the last 21 years," said Clausen, who singled out Lockhart for the individual attention she gives her students.

"It is one thing to win the internal award, but the best in the state is really saying something," he added.

Lockhart said she was attracted to AIC because it is a student-focused institution.

"With all the controversy aside, I can't imagine being anywhere else," she said. "My students know they come first."

Last month the Arizona Board of Regents decided to move AIC to the University of Arizona's main campus this summer due to budget and enrollment problems.

Lockhart said Arizona students "deserve" the option of a four-year state liberal arts college.

Although she cannot control AIC's financial situation, she does have control over the "quality of education in the classroom," she said.

Lockhart, who is "fascinated" by Hispanic culture, said she integrates teaching a new language with community service.

"The idea is that they also learn outside of the classroom so they don't feel that they are learning in a sterile environment," she said. "I really want learning to be a hands-on experience."

That hands-on community service included cleaning up a south side resident's back yard, said Blaise Rastello, an AIC freshman

"It was very beneficial," he said. "It's great to get out in the community and utilize my Spanish-speaking skills."

He said Lockhart is very enthusiastic and outgoing.

"She loves to speak Spanish, she loves to learn, she loves to teach," Rastello said.

Celestino Fernandez, AIC's executive vice president and provost, said Lockhart's awards are well deserved.

"She's a very dynamic and energetic professor that lets her students get involved," he said. "She really embodies the mission of AIC."

Lockhart, who finished her doctoral degree at Arizona State University in 1995, has researched Hispanic gender and sexuality in literature and theater.

This spring, she plans to publish two articles about Brazilian narrative and United States Latino theater.

"Some of the best teachers are the best researchers," Lockhart said. "But one thing most people who really believe in teaching share, is that teaching brings them joy."