University of Richmond names five as 2009 distinguished educators
August 31, 2009
The University of Richmond has named five recipients of 2009 Distinguished Educator Awards.
The awards went to Raymond F. Hilliard, professor of English; Ann C. Hodges, professor of law; Crystal L. Hoyt, associate professor of leadership studies; James W. Monks, associate professor of economics; and Laura Runyen-Janecky, associate professor of biology.
Distinguished Educator Awards recognize full-time faculty for a consistent record of outstanding contributions to education, particularly teaching leadership. Recipients have successfully integrated teaching and scholarship and have a significant record of research or creativity with students.
Hilliard is former chair of the English department and coordinator of the university’s Core Course. He regularly receives high ratings from students and is the author of numerous journal articles, including one soon to be published in the series Eighteenth-Century Literature and Culture. This is his second Distinguished Educator Award.
Hodges is an innovative teacher who brings student-led research and real-world experience into the classroom. She is a national authority on labor and employment law and founder of the Legal Information Network for Cancer (LINK), which has provided free legal counsel to more than 4,000 cancer patients.
Hoyt has taught in the Jepson School of Leadership Studies since 2003. She has supervised more hours of independent research than any other Jepson School faculty member and often collaborates with students on publications and presentations, one of which appeared in the top journal in leadership studies. She also writes articles on a broad range of subjects and conducts collaborative research in social psychology and philosophy.
Monks is responsible for the senior capstone and honors seminars in the Robins School of Business. His students’ research abstracts have been presented at meetings of the National Conference on Undergraduate Research and the Virginia Economics Association. He has earned a national reputation for his research in the economics of higher education. He has served on committees of national associations, participated in national research groups and presented at specialty symposia.
Runyen-Janecky brings innovative approaches to her teaching and biology labs. She has used her own research to develop lab modules for more than 100 students each year, exposing them to important biological concepts and techniques. She has mentored 20 genetics students in her six years at the university and co-authored papers or made presentations with more than 10 undergraduate students. She has received two grants from The National Institutes of Health and one grant each from the Jeffress Trust and the National Science Foundation.