Posted on May 25, 2001 at 2:40 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The 11th annual presentation of the President’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching was held 11 a.m. May 25 during the Faculty Honors Convocation in the Alys Stephens Center Sirote Theatre.

The President's Awards for Excellence in Teaching were established by former UAB former President Charles A. McCallum in 1990 to recognize exceptional accomplishments in teaching. Recipients are chosen from each of the 12 schools and the Joint Health Sciences Departments. Each faculty member so honored receives a cash award and a Steuben apple that stands as a symbol of his or her achievement. Financial support for these awards is derived from the Fund for Excellence, which includes gifts from members of the UAB President's Council.

The following are recipients of the 2001 President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching:

 

• Associate Professor Michael Quick, Joint Health Sciences: Quick teaches in the department of neurobiology and is an associate scientist in the Cystic Fibrosis Center. He is the course director for statistics for biomedical sciences, medical neurosciences and scientific integrity, plus co-directs the course on biophysics of excitability membranes. Quick also is a member of the neurobiology graduate program committee and is a supervisor of postdoctoral fellow projects.
• Associate Professor W. Ronald Clemmons, School of Arts & Humanities: Clemmons, the founding chair of the department of music, has published his text, “Sounds in Time: A Guide to Music Fundamentals,” and written numerous original compositions and arrangements in addition to his class load. Since the mid 1970s he has investigated and supported the use and benefits of computer-assisted music instruction and now teaches music technology along with music theory and composition.
• Assistant Professor Lance Nail, School of Business: Nail teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on investments, corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions in the department of finance. He has twice won the School of Business Excellence in Teaching Award and twice been a finalist for the Ingalls Award for Teaching Excellence since he joined UAB in 1997. Included among “Who’s Who in Finance and Industry 2000,” Nail has been a contributor, reviewer and editor for scholarly financial publications.
• Professor John Thornton, School of Dentistry: Thornton is chair of the department of pediatric dentistry. He directs the postdoctoral program in Pediatric Dentistry at UAB, dentistry at Civitan International Research Center/Sparks Clinics and community outreach for the School of Dentistry. Thornton also is officer-in-charge of dental services for Detachment 5 State Area Command in the Alabama Army National Guard. He recently procured a grant for $52,000 as project director for Monroe County Hospital Rural Health Clinic. Thornton is on the editorial board for the Journal of Southeastern Society of Pediatric Dentistry and is a member of the executive council of the UAB School of Dentistry. He has published numerous articles and is co-author of the book “Special and Medically Compromised Patients in Dentistry.”
• Assistant Professor Karen Dahle, School of Education: Dahle teaches within the department of leadership, special education and foundations. She is a consultant for the Alabama Department of Education Division of Special Education Services for individuals with the Autism Spectrum Disorder or with the educational classification of seriously emotionally disturbed. She has published several articles and led numerous workshops dealing with autism and special education services. In 1979, Dahle was awarded the Teacher of the Year Certificate of Commendation by Roanoke County Mental Health Services. And in 1994, she was named Supervisor of the Year for Glenwood Mental Health Services.
• Assistant Professor Norbert Delatte Jr., School of Engineering: Delatte teaches within the department of civil and environmental engineering. His specialty includes transportation engineering, structures, engineering mechanics and construction materials. This past January, Delatte was awarded the American Society of Civil Engineers Certificate of Award in the faculty category for the Long-Term Pavement Performance DataPage Contest 2000. In 1998, he was awarded the Engineering Foundation Council Faculty Excellence Award. Delatte also was nominated for the Ellen Gregg Ingalls UAB National Alumni Society Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching in 1998. He is a member of many professional associations, including the American Society of Civil Engineers.
• Associate Professor Ann Steves, School of Health Related Professions: Steves is director of the division of medical imaging and therapy. She is certified through the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board and is associate editor of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology. She is a member of the Academic Affairs Committee within the School of Health Related Professions. In 1997, she received a fellowship from the Society of Nuclear Medicine Technologist Section and the Special Contribution Award for her series on caring for the older patient published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology.
• Associate Professor Gustavo Heudebert, School of Medicine: Heudebert is associate director of the Internal Medicine Residency Training Program. He is a scientist for the Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research and Education. Heudebert also is fellowship co-director for the division of general internal medicine, and he is a Lister Hill Center scholar. He is a member of the active staff of medicine services at UAB Hospital, a physician for Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center and is a member of the consulting medical staff for Cooper Green Hospital. For the past five years, Heudebert has received the Tinsley Harrison Award for Best Clinical Teacher.
• Associate Professor Thane Wibbels, School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics: Wibbels teaches mammalian physiology and vertebrate zoology. In addition to his classroom teaching, his typical school year includes numerous seminars and career days at local schools. Wibbels also gives several presentations per year at other universities. He chairs the biology honors program and is active in the Alabama Alliance for Minority Participation. He has acted as a mentor for the Alabama SEED Program for highly motivated high-school students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and is a mentor for advanced high-school students from the Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School. Wibbels also is an invited member of UAB’s Universitywide Prehealth Advisory Committee.
• Professor Norman Keltner, School of Nursing: Keltner teaches nursing at UAB, and he is a part-time staff nurse within the geropsychiatry department of UAB Hospital. He has been a member of several professional organizations, including the American Nurses’ Association. In addition to classroom teaching, Keltner has given numerous presentations across the nation on psychiatric nursing. He has published many articles and co-authored several books, including Psychotropic Drugs, published this year by Harcourt Health Sciences. Keltner has received many honors and awards and was named as a finalist in 1999 for the Ellen Gregg Ingalls UAB National Alumni Society Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching.
• Professor Kent Keyser, School of Optometry: Keyser teaches within the department of physiological optics. He is director of the Vision Science Research Center, the UAB High Resolution Imaging Facility and the graduate Training Program in Vision Science, plus a scientist within the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, a member of the UAB Laser and Photonics Center and senior scientist at the UAB Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases Center. In addition to classroom teaching, Keyser has given numerous talks throughout the United States. He is president of the Birmingham area chapter of the Society for Neuroscience and is a member of several professional organizations, including the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Microscopy Society of America.
• Professor Michael Morrisey, School of Public Health: Morrisey teaches within the department of health care organization and policy. He is director of the Lister Hill Center for Health Policy. He is senior scientist for the Center for Outcomes Effectiveness Research and Education, the Center for Aging, the Center for Health Promotion, the Multipurpose Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Disease Center and the Injury Control Research Center. He is faculty researcher for the division of business and health care strategies for the Center for Telecommunications, Education and Research within the School of Engineering. And he is an associate professor in the department of economics within the School of Business. He has been a finalist in the President’s Excellence in Teaching Award three times.
• Associate Professor Harriet Amos Doss, School of Social & Behavioral Sciences: Doss teaches several undergraduate and graduate level courses, including American History from Prehistory to the Present and Southern Women: Image and Reality. She has received many awards, including the Elizabeth Gould Research Award of the Mobile Historic Development Commission in 1991. She also was named one of the Outstanding Young Women of America in 1978. Doss has published numerous articles and reviews and the book “Cotton City: Urban Development in Antebellum Mobile.” She is a past president of the Alabama Association of Historians and the Alabama Historical Association. She is a member of many other professional organizations, including the Organization of American Historians and the Southern Historical Association.