University Relations

Spectrum

Volume 25, Number 4, June 1998

Carrel receives highest teaching award

James Carrel

James Carrel, professor of biological sciences at UM-Columbia, is the 1998 winner of the UM System's Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching.

The award honors long-term achievement in teaching at the UM System. It carries a $15,000 stipend and is given to a faculty member who has served his or her campus for at least 10

years. Each UM campus nominates a candidate, and a systemwide committee considers teaching evaluations, peer reviews, course syllabi and other evidence of outstanding and innovative teaching in selecting the winner.

Carrel has developed and instituted nine courses at the University, including introductory biology for honors students and a freshman seminar on creation and evolution. He has long been recognized as one of MU's outstanding teachers. He is a past recipient of the Purple Chalk Teaching Award, the Arts and Science Blue Chalk Advising Award, the Maxine Schutz Award for Distinguished Teaching, the Governor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, and a William T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence.

Carrel joined the MU faculty in 1971. He earned his bachelor's degree from Harvard University and his Ph.D. from Cornell University.

Former students were asked to evaluate nominees as part of the selection process. One student's response is typical: "His enthusiasm for teaching inspired the students to want to learn. Even more importantly, he was the first professor to teach me the basics of how to learn. Dr. Carrel was genuinely interested in not only teaching the students the materials at hand, but preparing us for a lifetime of learning! He inspired me to pursue a career in science through his own overwhelming enthusiasm for scientific investigation."

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