The 2014-16 Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professors were honored at a meeting of SMU’s Board of Trustees Thursday, May 8 (l to r): Michael Lattman, Paige Ware and Jaime Clark-Soles. Photo: Hillsman S. Jackson
Three of SMU’s best teachers have been named 2014-16 Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professors, as announced by the University’s Center for Teaching Excellence at the Board of Trustees meeting Thursday, May 8, 2014.
This year’s honorees include Jaime Clark-Soles, New Testament, Perkins School of Theology; Michael Lattman, Chemistry, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences; and Paige Ware, Teaching and Learning, Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.
The new members of SMU’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers will join returning members Thomas Carr, Mathematics, Dedman College; Robert Krout, Music Therapy, Meadows School of the Arts; Sheri Kunovich, Sociology, Dedman College; and Luis Maldonado-Peña, World Languages and Literatures (Spanish), Dedman College.
Each year since 2001, the Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor Awards recognize SMU faculty members for their commitment to and achievements in fostering student learning. “These are faculty whose concerns for higher education go beyond classroom boundaries and often the boundaries of their own discipline,” according to the CTE website. “They represent the highest achievement in reaching the goals of higher education.” The professorships are named for SMU Trustee Ruth Altshuler.
Each recipient receives a $10,000 award and membership in SMU’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers for the two years of their appointment as Altshuler Professors. Members participate actively with other members of the Academy to address issues in classroom teaching.
More about this year’s honored professors under the link.
Jaime Clark-Soles has been a member of the faculty of SMU’s Perkins School of Theology since 2001. She received her Master of Divinity and Ph.D. degrees from Yale. Her teaching and scholarship focus on the New Testament, and she is an internationally recognized interpreter of the gospel of John. She shares ideas about good teaching practices nationally and internationally through projects such as “Teaching Biblical Exegesis in Theological Schools,” a collaborative project involving participants from North American seminaries and divinity schools. Her past honors include a 2010 Ford Research Fellowship. “Wherever she goes and whatever she does, Dr. Jaime Clark-Soles is a compelling teacher,” wrote Perkins Dean William Lawrence in his nomination letter.
Michael Lattman received his Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from the City College of New York and has been a member of SMU’s Department of Chemistry since 1979. He has earned praise from his peers for preparing students at every level to succeed – teaching upper-level undergraduate courses as well as more than 100 students every year in General Chemistry, and advising and mentoring students in the Department of Chemistry’s Ph.D. program. He is the recipient of multiple Honoring Our Professors’ Excellence (HOPE) Awards, presented by student staff members in Residence Life and Student Housing to professors who “have made a significant impact to our academic education both inside and outside of the classroom.”
Paige Ware received her Ph.D. in education, language, literacy and culture from the University of California-Berkeley. She is the incoming chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development and has been instrumental in designing programs for preparing teachers to work with learners of English as a second language. She also mentors faculty colleagues and makes presentations at programs sponsored by the Center for Teaching Excellence. In 2013-14, she co-chaired an SMU committee studying online course options for University undergraduates. In 2013, she received the Distinguished University Citizen Award, given by the Provost’s Office for service and activities that benefit students and the University’s academic mission.
