Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 5, 1990 TAG: 9004040983
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL HOWES HIGHER EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The winners, announced Wednesday by the state Council of Higher Education, were chosen from 79 nominees and each will each receive a $5,000 cash award and special sculpture. The prizes will be conferred by Gov. Douglas Wilder at a black-tie dinner and ceremony May 2 in Richmond.
The awards were established four years ago by the General Assembly and are designed to recognize the professors' contributions to teaching, research and public service.
This year's winners include:
Grace Toney Edwards, an English professor at Radford. A leading scholar in Appalachian studies, Edwards has been at the New River Valley school for 10 years and last year received the Donald N. Dedmon Professorial Award for outstanding teaching.
She has chaired the Appalachian studies program since 1982, transforming it into a "thriving interdisciplinary program featuring . . . an outreach program to schools, churches and hospitals," a news release said.
Stephen Pontius, a Radford geography professor. Also a Dedmon award winner, Pontius helped direct the development of an atlas, several maps and other educational materials that have become regarded by teachers and other experts as outstanding teaching tools.
A 1986 proposal that Pontius made to the National Science Foundation enabled Radford's geography department to become one of the few schools with specialized computer equipment for teaching geographic information systems.
Sasha Saari, an associate professor of Russian at Ferrum. Selected Virginia's outstanding foreign language teacher three years ago, Saari has been teaching English, Russian and Swahili at the Franklin County college since 1978.
She teaches the only Swahili course offered in Virginia and is credited with starting Ferrum's Russian program, which includes courses through the fourth year of study. Saari also teaches elementary school pupils in Ferrum.
Edgar Spencer, a Washington and Lee geology professor. A 1953 W&L graduate, Spencer has chaired his department for 30 years and been lauded for spurring many geology majors toward graduate degrees.
He's been called a "world-class earth scientist," "gifted colleague" and "the man who taught [many] the rudiments of rocks and rivers," according to a news release.
by CNB