Teaching Academy Elects New Officers and Executive Committee Members

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Jeannie Whayne, president of the Teaching Academy

Members of the Teaching Academy at the University of Arkansas elected new officers and members of the executive committee at its April meeting.

Jeannie Whayne will serve as president of the Teaching Academy. Whayne is professor of history in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and is adjunct curator of America history at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. A winner of the Fulbright College Master Teacher Award and the John E. King Service Award, Whayne began her career at the University of Arkansas in 1990.

She is past president of the Campus Faculty and Faculty Senate. She has been a member of the Teaching Academy for four years and was recently named a co-director of the Teaching and Faculty Support Center. A distinguished lecturer with the Organization of American Historians, Whayne has won numerous awards for her publications, including the John G. Ragsdale prize for Delta Empire: Lee Wilson and the Transformation of Agriculture in the New South. 

Don Johnson, Vice President

Don Johnson was elected for a two-year term as vice president of the Teaching Academy in April 2012. He will assume the presidency in 2014. Johnson is a professor in the department of agricultural and extension education in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, where he teaches and conducts research in agricultural technology. Johnson started at the U of A in 1993 and was inducted into the Teaching Academy in 1999. As vice-president of the Teaching Academy, Johnson hopes to make positive contributions to improving teaching and to recognizing the many excellent teaching professors at the U of A. Johnson said, “It is an honor to serve as vice-president of the Teaching Academy. I look forward to working with Teaching Academy members and others to enhance the great teaching that occurs every day at the U of A.”

Professor Johnson’s research area includes evaluation of diesel engine performance and emissions with bio-based fuels and physical models for teaching and learning technology. He works with school-based programs in agricultural sciences and technologies. He received the John and Lois Imhoff Award for Outstanding Teaching and Student Mentorship.

Donna Graham, Secretary-Treasurer

Donna Graham, professor in the department of agricultural and extension education in Bumpers College, will serve as secretary-treasurer. She has been a member of the Teaching Academy for nine years. She has received local, regional and national awards of excellence for teaching and advising. Among them are the Jack G. Justus Teaching Excellence Award, the College Alumni Society Advising Award, AAAE Southern Region Distinguished Teaching Award, and the John W. White Award for Outstanding Teaching.

She has been involved in many academic initiatives working with faculty, administrators and industry partners. The most recent effort involves the creation of online programs with 12 other university partners. She is a former associate dean for academic programs in the Dale Bumpers College. Her research focus is on career development, advising, and retention.  She is co-author of a widely read textbook, Education through Cooperative Extension.

Neil T. Allison, Executive Committee

Neil T. Allison was elected to the executive committee of the Teaching Academy. Allison is the holder of the Liebolt Chair of Premedical Sciences and is associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry in Fulbright College. Since joining the faculty 32 years ago, he has served in a variety of posts, including chair of Campus Faculty and Faculty Senate and as a co-director in the Teaching and Faculty Support Center. He has been a member of the Faculty Senate for more than 12 years and was inducted into the Teaching Academy in 2000. For the past 10 years, he has directed the Liebolt Premedical Program and is chair of the U of A Premedical Advisory Committee. His research area is bio-organometallic chemistry and organometallic chemistry.

The new officers join David Gay, immediate past president and University Professor in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, and Charles Leflar, who serves as a member of the executive committee and is a clinical associate professor in Walton College.

The Teaching Academy is a society committed to excellence in teaching at the University of Arkansas, established in 1988 by then-Chancellor Dan Ferritor. The academy’s mission is to advocate and represent teaching interests, promote and stimulate an environment of teaching and learning excellence, and encourage recognition and reward for exceptional teaching. The Teaching Academy consists of faculty members who have been recognized by their peers, colleges and the university for their excellence in teaching.

Other criteria for being selected to the Teaching Academy include a professor’s ability to establish a special rapport with students, to instill in them a love for learning, and to encourage them to go beyond the expectations of the classroom and to explore their disciplines for themselves.

The Teaching Academy logo represents a drop of water falling into a pond creating ripples spreading out in all directions, having an effect which can neither be controlled nor predicted. So it is with the effect of outstanding teaching on the university's students. For more information, see the Teaching Academy website.