Reinhardt Honors Faculty Dedication with Presentation of Six Awards

At the final Faculty Senate meeting of the academic year, University administrators underscored the crucial role that faculty play in making Reinhardt a true community of challenge and care. Among the outstanding faculty honored at the meeting were Phil Unger, Dr. Donna Coffey, Dr. Anne Good, Dr. John Yelvington, Elizabeth Smith and Dr. Curt Lindquist. 

Phil Unger

Jane England Faculty Award for Excellence

Phil Unger

 Phil Unger, assistant professor of history, was honored with the Jane England Faculty Award for Excellence. The $500 award is named for a long-time Reinhardt faculty member who retired in May 2001 and passed away in January 2007. England was a professor of history and political science for 31 years at Reinhardt. She also served in numerous leadership roles, including advisor to the student newspaper and faculty chair. Upon her retirement, Reinhardt established this annual faculty award, along with a scholarship fund, in her honor. 

“I thought the Jane England Award acknowledged not so much my efforts, but the many projects I had the good fortune to become involved with that were initiated by and carried forward by so many of the faculty members in their various committees and service to the university,” said Unger. “I also would like to acknowledge the support and involvement of the late Dr. Bob Driscoll [former vice president of academic affairs] who encouraged the development of such programs as First Year Seminar and early intervention efforts. All these initiatives that were mentioned when I was nominated for the award are works still very much in progress, and a lot more remains to be done. I hope the award encourages continued efforts.”

 Upon the acceptance of the award, Unger pledged to give the funds awarded to him, in addition to funds of his own, to found a scholarship in honor of Dr. Driscoll. He challenged other faculty to support the fund so that a scholarship could be awarded annually to a Reinhardt student who is helping the community. Unger, a resident of Johns Creek, Ga., has taught at Reinhardt for more than seven years. 

Dr. Donna Coffey, Dr. John Yelvington, Dr. Anne Good

Faculty Research and Scholarship Awards

Dr. Anne Good

Dr. Anne Good, assistant professor of history, received a Faculty Research and Scholarship Award for the publication of her article on childbirth and infancy at the Cape of Good Hope in the early eighteenth century that was published in the “Journal of History of Childhood and Youth.” Good, a resident of White, Ga., has taught at Reinhardt for more than seven years. 

“I worked on this article for more than three years, almost exclusively during summers and holidays, so this award means a lot to me,” Good said. “I was inspired to write the article because I teach a course on the History of Children and Childhood here at Reinhardt. In return, the detailed research that I did has certainly had a great impact on several of the courses that I teach. I feel strongly that scholarship and teaching go hand-in-hand. I am so honored to have received this award.”

Dr. John Yelvington

 Also honored for research, Dr. John Yelvington, assistant professor of economics and a resident of John’s Creek, Ga., who has taught at the University for more than 11 years. He was the lead author on a paper on students’ satisfaction with online Intermediate Accounting courses.

Elizabeth Smith

Dr. Donna Coffey

A third Faculty Research and Scholarship Award went to Dr. Donna Coffey, associate professor of English and resident of Waleska, Ga., who has taught at Reinhardt for more than 15 years. 

United Methodist Exemplary Teacher Award

Elizabeth Smith

Elizabeth Smith, assistant professor of mathematics, received the prestigious United Methodist Exemplary Teacher Award. Smith, a resident Waleska, Ga., has taught at Reinhardt for more than six years. 

Funded by the Division of Higher Education of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church, the Exemplary Teacher Award is given annually to a Reinhardt faculty member to recognize excellence in teaching, commitment to value-centered education and service to students at the University. 

Vulcan Materials Company Teaching Excellence Award

Curt Lindquist

The Rev. Dr. Curt Lindquist

Honored with the Vulcan Materials Company Teaching Excellence Award was The Rev. Dr. Curt Lindquist, professor of religion and philosophy. Lindquist, who is a resident of Decatur, Ga., has taught at the University for more than 18 years.

“I am honored to be the recipient of the Vulcan Teaching Award. Reinhardt has many gifted ‘teachers,’” said Lindquist. “Like any craft, teaching well is a result of constant attention and work. Some faculty are publicly honored; many faculty are more privately honored by comments from fellow faculty, from staff colleagues, and from individual students. I am grateful to be part of a university which has so many wonderful exemplars of teaching.”

Vulcan’s Southeast Division has sponsored the Teaching Excellence Award since the early 1990s through the Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges, Inc. The award is presented to a faculty member at each of the GFIC’s 25-member institutions, in recognition of outstanding contributions to undergraduate education, student learning, and campus life.