The U of A Teaching Academy has announced its new officers, who will serve through the end of the 2025-26 academic year. The Teaching Academy's new officers include:

• President — Susan Bristow, Department of Information Systems
• President Elect (Vice President) — Adnan Alrubaye, Department of Poultry Science
• Secretary/Treasurer — Carole Shook, Department of Information Systems
• Director — Deb Korth, Student Success Center
• Director — Carl A. Smith, Department of Landscape Architecture
• Program Coordinator — Lori Libbert, Teaching Academy, Wally Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center and Office for Faculty Affairs

The Teaching Academy, established in 1988 by then-Chancellor Daniel Ferritor, consists of faculty members who have been recognized for their excellence in teaching. It currently has 192 members.

The Teaching Academy holds monthly meetings for its members, provides teaching resources and workshops, and works with the Wally Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center to recognize faculty for teaching excellence. The Teaching Academy also supports student learning initiatives throughout campus to help further student success. For more information, visit teaching-academy.uark.edu.

About the New Officers

Susan Bristow is serving as the new president of the Teaching Academy. A dedicated educator at the U of A's Sam M. Walton College of Business since 2002, Bristow has been recognized for her excellence in advising, teaching and service. Bristow has received many honors for her work over the years, including U of A Outstanding Mentor, U of A Outstanding Faculty Advisor, Faculty of the Year Award by the U of A Associated Student Government and Residents' Interhall Congress, Walton College's Excellence in Teaching Award, its Innovation Award and its Excellence in Service Award. In 2014, she was inducted into the Teaching Academy and, in 2020, was inducted into the Arkansas Academy of Computing.

Adnan Alrubaye is the new vice president of the Teaching Academy. He is an assistant professor of poultry science and biological sciences and the associate director of the cell and molecular biology graduate program. Alrubaye holds a doctoral degree in cell and molecular biology, a master's degree in medical microbiology and a master's degree in science education. He is a poultry microbiologist, and his research focuses on identifying the bacterial causes and mitigation measures for bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis in broiler chickens. Alrubaye received several awards for his teaching and mentorship, including the U of A's Dr. John and Lois Imhoff Award for Outstanding Teaching and Student Mentorship, the Fulbright College Master Teacher Award, the Collis Geren Award for Excellence in Graduate and International Education, the Hoyt H. Purvis Award for Service in International Education and the UA Most Outstanding Faculty Member from the U of A's Associated Student Government.

Carole Shook was elected secretary/treasurer of the Teaching Academy. She is a teaching associate professor of information systems and has served as a faculty member at the U of A for 25 years. She has been a Teaching Academy member for 11 years and previously served as a director of the Teaching Academy. She has won the Walton College Outstanding Teaching Award, the Faculty Distinguished Achievement Award in Service from the Arkansas Alumni Association and has been a finalist for the Dr. John and Lois Imhoff Award for Outstanding Teaching and Student Mentorship sponsored by the Teaching Academy. She has twice won the Innovative Supply Chain Teaching Award, a national teaching award, from the Council of Supply Chain Management in the past eight years.

Deb Korth is co-director of the Teaching Academy through 2026. She is the senior associate vice provost for student success and academic excellence for the Student Success Center. She also leads the General Education Learning Outcomes Assessment Project on campus.  Korth is a non-tenure track teaching professor and has led several student success initiatives across campus, which include the creation of Professional Agility and Career Essentials (PACE) Micro and Instructor Coach Program in the Fulbright College for Arts and Sciences. She teaches the Destination Arkansas Blackboard Assignments (DABA) to new students each fall as well as serves as the faculty liaison to the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) to support faculty across the university in obtaining certification in effective college teaching. She joined the U of A in 2000 and has served in several roles on campus, including as a clinical associate professor in mathematical sciences. Korth was inducted into the Teaching Academy in 2020.

Carl A. Smith is a professor of landscape architecture in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. Inducted into the Teaching Academy in 2022, Smith now serves as a member of the academy's executive committee in his role as co-director. He also serves the campus as a Certified Peer-Teacher Observer and as a Faculty Mentorship Circle Facilitator. His research focuses on community perceptions and experiences of changing cities and landscapes. He has served as an invited teacher, critic and reviewer at design institutions across the U.S., Europe, Australia, South America and his native U.K. Smith has received notable teaching recognitions from the university, including the Faculty Gold Medal, and Dean's Faculty Fellow and Distinguished Faculty Fellow from the U of A Honors College. He has also been awarded the Tau Sigma Delta (the honor society in Architecture and the Allied Arts) Medal for Distinction in Landscape Architectural Education and the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture's Award for Excellence in Studio Teaching at the senior level — one of the highest international recognitions in his field. Smith's students have won notable awards in regional competitions for design excellence and have had design and scholarly works published and presented regionally, nationally and internationally.

Lori Libbert serves as the program coordinator for the Teaching Academy. Libbert has been with the university since 1985. For the past two decades, she has provided administrative support for the Teaching Academy, the Teaching and Faculty Support Center and the Office for Faculty Affairs. Libbert plays a pivotal role in organizing the new faculty orientation, Teaching Camp, the TFSC grants program and more than 50 faculty programs each academic year.

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