FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Greg Salamo, Distinguished Professor of physics and co-director of the Center for Semiconductor Physics in Nanostructures at the University of Arkansas, was named winner of the Charles and Nadine Baum Faculty Teaching Award for 2007. This is the university’s most prestigious teaching award.

“I’m just overwhelmed,” Salamo said when he learned he had received the award. “I know there are a lot of deserving faculty members on this campus. It makes me feel humble, and flattered. I was told that some students wrote some good things about my teaching, and really, there’s nothing more priceless than knowing you’re respected as a good teacher.”

Salamo is a native of Brooklyn, N.Y. He received his bachelor’s degree in physics at Brooklyn College, his master’s degree from Purdue University, his doctorate at City University of New York, and completed post-doctorate work in optics at the University of Rochester. He joined the University of Arkansas faculty in 1975, and was named a Distinguished Professor in 2004. He has also served as director of the Fulbright College Honors Program and associate director of the High Density Electronics Center.

“Greg is one of those rare individuals — a teacher scholar — who excels both in research and teaching and is able to communicate his love for learning to his students and colleagues,” said Surendra Singh, chair of the physics department. “Greg’s teaching achievements are rare in their breadth and diversity. He has excelled in classroom teaching and in one-on-one mentoring. He has always recognized that excellence in teaching is the foundation upon which the University rests.”

In his letter announcing the award, Provost Bob Smith told Salamo, “You have been acknowledged as an outstanding teacher and researcher by your peers — within and beyond the university; also by students and alumni. You have truly found the keys to active engagement and learning, and our students and our university have been the beneficiaries of your extraordinary creativity and dedication.”