College of Charleston Distinguished Faculty Awards Announced

Above (l–r): Tim Barker, Beth Goodier, Colleen Glenn, Tony Harold, Jacob Steere-Williams, Betty Gailbreath, Devon Hanahan and Suzanne Austin (Photo by Catie Cleveland)

Every year, the Office of the Provost recognizes seven outstanding faculty members who demonstrate excellence in various areas of advising, teaching and research through a series of Faculty Awards of Distinction.

The College of Charleston 2024 Distinguished Faculty Award recipients were announced at the Celebration of Faculty on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in the School of Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering Building. Also recognized: those named emeriti faculty and those granted tenure and promotion, renewals, positive third-year reviews, superior post-tenure reviews and sabbaticals.

Congratulations to the following faculty members who received Distinguished Faculty Awards this year!

William V. Moore Distinguished Teacher-Scholar Award: Timothy Barker

Tim Barker, associate professor of organic chemistry, received the 2024 William V. Moore Distinguished Teacher-Scholar Award, which honors faculty members selected by their peers as exemplifying the teacher-scholar model. The recipients’ exemplary scholarship and teaching have enriched the intellectual lives of students throughout their careers.

Barker represents the very spirit of this award, with dedication and creativity in the organic chemistry classroom and teaching laboratory, inspired mentorship of undergraduate researchers and a continuous and significant record of contributions to the field of synthetic organic chemistry spanning both publications and conference proceedings across a wide and international audience. Barker’s teaching and scholarship are intertwined, with the focus always on helping students grow and become independent scientists. His scholarship as a professor builds on the problem-solving skills his students learn in the classroom, with additional training in laboratory techniques and oral presentation skills to develop the next generation of scientists. He also provides leadership to his colleagues – both by his positive example and his direct action. Barker’s impact is widespread, long-lasting and transformative for his students, and for the chemistry and health professional communities on the whole.

Distinguished Teaching Award: Colleen Glenn 

Colleen Glenn, associate professor of English and director of film studies, received the 2024 Distinguished Teaching Award, which honors those faculty members who are outstanding among the College’s many exceptional teachers, typifying high standards and commitment to teaching excellence throughout their careers.

Glenn is a dedicated and inspiring teacher whose commitment to her craft is clearly reflected in her dynamic and innovative classroom teaching, her individualized mentorship of students, and the extension of her teaching to study abroad programs and other areas. She teaches an array of courses, and strives to foster both verbal and visual communication skills while highlighting the real world value and applications of these skills in each class. Understanding that learning styles can vary widely, she provides students with a variety of opportunities to demonstrate their learning, from conventional research papers to movie poster presentations, video essays and short films. She is the faculty advisor of the Film Club and enhances her students’ experience through her connections in the local film community. Her colleagues are always learning from her teaching skills, yet Glenn continually strives to improve as a teacher, taking advantage of professional development opportunities. It is no wonder her classes are consistently popular among students.

Distinguished Adjunct Faculty Teaching Award: BettyCep Gailbreath

Betty Gailbreath, adjunct faculty member in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, received the 2024 Distinguished Adjunct Faculty Teaching Award, which honors adjunct faculty members who are outstanding among the College’s many exceptional teachers, typifying high standards and commitment to teaching excellence throughout their careers.

Gailbreth joined the College in 2013, and has been committed to her students’ success every step of the way. Teaching the introductory classes that lay the foundation in general chemistry, she ensures that students have the necessary interest, knowledge and study habits to support their education in chemistry. She aims to develop in them passion, patience and perseverance, and challenges them to a higher level of knowledge, encouraging them be inquisitive, ask questions, develop hypotheses, test those hypotheses and learn from them. She hopes these challenges give her students a sense of accomplishment and build their self-esteem so that they are confident in making decisions and solving problems, and conscientious of the world around them.

Distinguished Research Award: Jacob Steere-Williams

Jacob Steere-Williams, associate professor of history, received the 2024 Distinguished Research Award, which recognizes those faculty members who have a significant career of research, demonstrated by the body of a faculty member’s scholarly and/or creative works within the past few years and evaluated based on their quality and significance as well as their quantity.

Since arriving at the College in 2012, Steere-Williams has published two books, a peer-reviewed monograph in a top university press and a co-edited university press book. He has also edited two special issues of top journals and published more than 25 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. His research on the timely subject of the history of disease and medicine has garnered national and international recognition, and he has secured his place as a leading expert in his field. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society of the United Kingdom, the world’s most prestigious organization for historians of Britain. He also serves as the associate editor of The Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences (Oxford University Press), one of the premier journals in his field. In other words, not only is he a key contributor to the discourse in the history of medicine, he shapes the discourse, too.

Distinguished Service Award: Bethany Goodier

Beth Goodier, associate professor of communication, received the 2024 Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes the outstanding contributions of a colleague who, beyond his or her required duties, has a sustained career of serving the College community in an outstanding and distinguished manner.

Goodier is a selfless, dedicated and fearless advocate of the student experience and a devoted faculty citizen driven by a strong desire to make the campus a better place to learn and work. Her impact across campus has been tremendous. As former department chair and now senior colleague, she makes herself available to junior faculty colleagues to answer questions, and also to provide support and direction. As Director of the Martin Center for Mentorship in Communication, she works tirelessly to build bridges between academia and the communications practice and has has launched and lead numerous programs focused on mentorship, networking and the power of connection more broadly, including speaker series, research grants, scholarships and training seminars.

Distinguished Advising Award: Devon Hanahan ’87

Devon Hanahan ’87, senior instructor of Hispanic studies, received the 2024 Distinguished Advising Award, which recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated sustained dedication to students in the area of academic advising.

Hanahan is unwaveringly committed to her many advisees, whom she gives personalized support and guidance on a daily basis. She assists students as they navigate complex decisions, such as incorporating study abroad programs into their academic pursuits. She is genuinely concerned for their success and wants to provide them with enrichment opportunities both academically and personally so that they have the confidence to challenge themselves and embrace their potential as global citizens. Her support, guidance and care has transformed the lives of many, many College of Charleston students.

Distinguished Undergraduate Mentor Award: Antony Harold

Tony Harold, marine biology professor, received the 2024 Distinguished Undergraduate Mentor Award, which honors faculty members who have demonstrated a sustained commitment to and excellence in mentoring undergraduate students in individual research or creative projects by supporting and influencing students’ educational and career paths.

Harold, who also serves as the curator of the Fish and Invertebrate Collection at the Grice Marine Lab, is patient and generous with his time and knowledge, providing his students with the highest quality scientific mentoring. He has mentored at least 15 undergraduate students since 2018 and at least 30 students over his 28-year career at the College of Charleston. He provides outstanding research opportunities and currently has five undergraduate students pursuing independent research projects in his laboratory – all centered around developing students’ skills at doing science; capturing and identifying local fish species; and working on the systematics and identification of new fish species. The research his mentees have produced has been disseminated through three co-authored publications, 12 conference presentations (most of them at national/international meetings) and 20+ posters at the annual poster session.