The U of A Teaching Academy recently recognized the 2024 Dr. John and Mrs. Lois Imhoff Award honorees for Outstanding Teaching and Student Mentorship at a ceremony held on Dec. 2, 2024. This year, the winner is Carole Shook of the Department of Information Systems.

Finalists for this year's Imhoff Award were recognized and include Richard Cassady of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Lauren Lambert of the Department of Communication.

To be considered for the award, a faculty member must be nominated by their peers and endorsed by a member of the Teaching Academy. The award recipient is chosen from three finalists selected by the Teaching Academy. Past Imhoff Award recipients can be viewed on the Teaching Academy website.

The Imhoff Award Winner

Carole Shook is a teaching associate professor of information systems in the Sam M. Walton College of Business.

She has been a U of A faculty member for over 25 years and has taught more than 15,000 students. Shook's teaching experience includes nine different introductory courses and five upper-level courses in multiple business disciplines. She is known across campus for her caring, enthusiastic and student-centered approach to teaching.

In addition to teaching, Shook founded the Sigma Chi Mu Tau Honors Society and has served as the faculty adviser to the Chinese Students and Scholars Association. In her career at the U of A, she has been the faculty adviser to seven different registered student organizations. She also recently served as a co-director of the Wally Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center. 

She is committed to improving her teaching and has earned the Wally Cordes Center Teaching Faculty and Support Center Commendation for Teaching every year it has been awarded. She regularly shares her teaching expertise through peer-reviewed publications and campus presentations.

Shook's contributions to teaching and mentoring have been recognized with 22 teaching and mentoring awards, including two international teaching awards from the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, the Walton College Outstanding Teaching Award, the Chi Omega Outstanding Teaching Award and the University of Arkansas Advising Award.

Additionally, she has been recognized by the Associated Student Government as an Outstanding Teacher four times, and she has received the Faculty Distinguished Achievement Award in Service from the Arkansas Alumni Association and the Outstanding Mentor Award through the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards.  Shook is active as an auditor in the Miss Arkansas Pageant system. The Boston/Shook Scholarship Award is awarded yearly during the Miss University of Arkansas pageant. Shook was inducted into the Teaching Academy in 2013.

The Imhoff Award Finalists

Richard Cassady is a university professor of Industrial Engineering in the College of Engineering and co-director of the Wally Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center. He has taught 15 different courses across all levels, from introductory engineering to graduate seminars. In addition, Cassady developed and has taught Introduction to Industrial Engineering since 2003, which is the gateway course for students interested in joining the program.

He was the founding director of the first-year engineering program and served in this role from 2006 - 2023. He also coordinates the senior capstone experience, bridging the beginning and end of the industrial engineering students' academic journeys.

He is the recipient of numerous teaching awards, including the Charles and Nadine Baum Faculty Teaching Award, the College of Engineering's Imhoff Outstanding Teacher Award and the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers' Albert G. Holzman Distinguished Educator Award. He has also received a Fellow Award from the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers and is a Fellow of the Society of Reliability Engineers.

He has been a faculty member of the U of A since 2000, and he was inducted in the U of A Teaching Academy in 2006. Beyond academia, Cassady has coached youth robotics teams in international competitions, and his team, who represented the U.S., won a world championship in Dubai.

Lauren Lambert is an instructor in the Department of Communication in the Fulbright College for Arts and Sciences. She is an experienced public speaker, has been an educator for nearly two decades and serves as the director of the Public Speaking course, where she oversees over 200 sections annually and guides a team of more than 50 instructors and graduate teaching assistants. Her students praise her for turning a course often met with fear into one of empowerment, describing her as "the best professor for a class like this" and "an inspiring force of positivity."

In addition to serving as the director of the public speaking program, she mentors the department's instructors, ensuring they are supported, well-prepared and equipped to deliver outstanding education in their classrooms. Lambert creates an inclusive and affirming learning environment and is involved with EMPOWER, a four-year, non-degree college experience program for students with cognitive disabilities.

Among her many honors, Lambert has received the Department of Communication Teaching Excellence Award, the Associated Student Government's Top Ten Most Outstanding Faculty Member recognition and the University's Outstanding Academic Partner to University Housing Award.

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About the Imhoff Award: The Imhoff Award was created by a gift from the John and Lois Imhoff Trust to the University of Arkansas. John Imhoff was the first chair of the Department of Industrial Engineering.  An engineering educator for more than 50 years, Imhoff's vision encompassed the undergraduate, graduate and teaching levels.  This award was created to recognize outstanding teaching and mentoring on the University of Arkansas campus in introductory courses.  Imhoff was a founding member of the Teaching Academy and was the recipient of numerous teaching and mentoring awards.  Lois Imhoff was his supportive wife to whom he provided much credit for this success.

About the Teaching Academy: The Teaching Academy was established by Daniel Ferritor, the university's third chancellor, in 1988 and consists of faculty members who have been recognized by their peers, colleges and the university for excellence in teaching.  The Teaching Academy holds monthly meetings for its members, provides teaching resources and workshops, recognizes faculty for teaching excellence, and supports student learning initiatives across campus to further student success. For more information or to view a list of members, visit teaching-academy.uark.edu.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $3 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.