By Carolyn Smith
Arizona Daily Wildcat
From a pool of 1,200 summer-school teachers, seven winners of the 1995 Summer Excellence in Teaching Awards were honored at a ceremony yesterday.
The winners include three UA faculty members: Jacqueline Sharkey, journalism professor, Richard Lopez, lecturer in teaching and teacher education, and Katherine Taylor, graduate teaching assistant in anthropology.
Each winner received $500 and a plaque of recognition.
Honorable mentions were given to James LaSalle, professor in management information systems, James Ranger-Moore, assistant professor of sociology, and Thabit Abu-Rass, graduate teaching assistant in geography.
Special recognition was awarded to history Professor Oscar Martinez for his work with transfer and minority students during the summer session.
Jim Patten, Journalism Department head, received Professor Jacqueline Sharkey's award because she is at Harvard University on a research fellowship.
In nominating forms, Sharkey's students cited her willingness to spend time with students outside class and her emphasis on ethics and the emotional and political impact of news photos.
Patten told the audience Sharkey has won every major award in the country except for the Pulitzer Prize, adding that she has not won that yet because she writes primarily for magazines rather than newspapers.
Katherine Taylor, who taught an anatomy class during both summer sessions, was called "a beacon in the darkness" by one student for her ability to simplify complex ideas and use analogies and humor in the classroom.
Taylor said she looked forward to seeing the students every day, even at 7 a.m.
Richard Lopez was known for being cheerful during his 7 a.m. class.
One student wrote that Lopez always emphasized the positive in each student.
"There was never a dull moment," the student wrote.
When receiving his award, Lopez thanked three of his students and told the audience, "There is not a higher form of recognition than having students thank us."
Each winner received a marble red apple on a plaque with the phrase "those who love to teach, teach others to love to learn" engraved on the side.
The teaching awards, which have been given annually since 1988, are based on information from students, faculty or administrators who submit written nominations on forms published in the Arizona Daily Wildcat and Summer Session bulletin.
The award ceremony was sponsored by the Office of the Summer Session, a division of the Extended University.