2015-16 Faculty Recognition

The Collins Outstanding Professor
Bruce E. Hodson

The Collins Outstanding Professor program was funded in 1994 by the Carr P. Collins Foundation to honor outstanding teachers at Baylor University. Recipients are chosen annually by a senior class vote, receive a cash award and deliver an open lecture on the Baylor campus.

Dr. Bruce E. Hodson, senior lecturer in chemistry and biochemistry, is the 2016 recipient. He presented the annual Collins lecture titled “A Chemist’s Perspective” on April 19, in which he thanked faculty members and colleagues from his past for their encouragement and talked about his love of the study of inorganic chemistry.

Dr. Hodson completed his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at the University of Teesside in England, where he was awarded the ICI Chemistry Prize for Outstanding Excellence. His PhD in inorganic chemistry was completed at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland.

He came to Baylor in the fall of 2001 as a postdoctoral fellow and in 2007 was hired as a member of the faculty of the University. He teaches introductory, general, inorganic and organometallic chemistry to both undergraduate and graduate students. He has directed an Honors thesis as well as research by students on all levels.

Dr. Hodson also designed and orchestrated new introductory chemistry courses for non-science majors. He has served on departmental committees, including scholarship and awards, and remained active with his research, publishing his findings in high-impact journals on a regular basis.

During his time at Baylor, he has been recognized with Phi Kappa Chi’s “Light Your World” designation, nominated by the National Society of Collegiate Scholars for the Inspire Integrity award and named to Alpha Delta’s Top 100 Professors list for Baylor.

The Cornelia Marschall Smith Award is presented to a faculty member who makes “a superlative contribution to the learning environment at Baylor, including teaching which is judged to be of the highest order of intellectual acumen and pedagogical effectiveness, research which is recognized as outstanding by the national and/or international as well as local community of scholars, and service which is regarded as exemplary in building the character of intellectual community at Baylor.”

Dr. Johnny L. Henderson, distinguished professor of mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences, was honored as the 2016 Cornelia Marschall Smith Professor of the Year during the University’s Academic Convocation in April. During the upcoming academic year, Dr. Henderson will present a public lecture on an academic topic of his choosing.

Dr. Henderson joined the Baylor faculty in 2002 as a renowned mathematician who conducts research in the areas of boundary value problems for ordinary differential equations, finite difference equations and dynamic equations on time scales. A prolific scholar, he has close to 500 publications in mathematical journals, putting him in the top one percent of scholarly productivity for all mathematicians in the world. His work has been cited nearly 3,700 times, “an extraordinarily high number,” said Dr. Lance Littlejohn, professor and chair of the mathematics department at Baylor.

In 2012, Dr. Henderson was among the inaugural class of international mathematicians named Fellows of the American Mathematical Society in recognition of his international excellence in mathematical sciences and service. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Arkansas and his PhD from the University of Nebraska.

Baylor Centennial Professors
Sandra Cooper and Steven Pounders

Created by the Baylor Centennial Class of 1945, this award provides tenured professors with funding for research projects that will facilitate in-depth study in their fields.

Dr. Sandra Cooper, professor and coordinator of the mathematics education program in the School of Education, and Steven Pounders, professor of acting and directing in the theatre arts department in the College of Arts and Sciences, were selected as recipients of the 2016 Baylor Centennial Professor Awards.

Dr. Cooper will use the award to fund a study that will define highly effective elementary school mathematics teachers. She plans to use her research to improve early education courses and better teach her students – future educators themselves – what they can do to establish math skills early on in their students’ lives. “I’m quite honored and pleased I’ll have the opportunity to engage in this project,” Dr. Cooper said. “This work will really contribute to my ability to revise my course to help prepare future elementary teachers.”

Pounders will use the award to complete a Meisner Certificate Training Program offered by the True Acting Institute at Williamette University in Salem, Oregon. He will use his certification to create a course in Meisner acting for Baylor theatre arts students.

Outstanding Professors for 2015-2016
Teaching

Lisa Baker
Clinical Faculty, Honors Program
Honors College

Julie K. Degraffenried
Associate Professor, History
College of Arts and Sciences

Shelby L. Garner
Assistant Professor
Louise Herrington School of Nursing

Bruce E. Hodson
Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
College of Arts and Sciences

Dennis R. Myers
Professor, Social Work
Diana R. Garland School of Social Work

Samuel Perry
Assistant Professor, Baylor Interdisciplinary Core
Honors College

Lesley M. Wright
Associate Professor, Engineering
School of Engineering and Computer Science

Outstanding Professors for 2015-2016
Scholarship

Steven G. Driese
Professor, Geosciences
College of Arts and Sciences

Chris P. Pullig
Professor, Department of Marketing
Hankamer School of Business

David E. Wilhite
Associate Professor
George W. Truett Theological Seminary

Outstanding Professors for 2015-2016
Contributions to the Academic Community

Patricia Wilson
Professor
Baylor Law School