Hanson named DTA winner

More than 560 faculty members were nominated for this year’s Kent State University Alumni Association Distinguished Teaching Award (DTA). Ten finalists were chosen, including JMC Professor Gary Hanson, who learned last week that he is one of the three university-wide winners.

According to the Alumni Association website, the Distinguished Teaching Award “is the university’s most prestigious honor in teaching. The award is presented annually to three full-time faculty members who demonstrate extraordinary teaching in the classroom and a devotion to touching the lives of students.”

“I was pleasantly surprised to be included in the list,” Hanson said. “In terms of JMC, we’ve had three DTA winners including our dean, Stanley Wearden, Ph.D., and professors Barb Hipsman and Tim Smith, so I’m joining good company. I’m honored to be in that company, as I am to be in the company of fellow CCI nominee Chris Ransom.”

Hanson has been a part of the JMC faculty since 1999. Prior to joining JMC, he worked in television news management.

“This [award] is a testament to the school’s tradition and basic mission,” Hanson said. “That tradition carries over to the college where CCI has a very strong teaching tradition in addition to the research and scholarly activities we do here.”

Hanson continued, “JMC is a professional school so we teach in an informed way. We recognize that fact in CCI and [the award] is a testament to how much value we place in working with students and helping them develop. It is really an honor.”

Hanson will be honored at the University Teaching Council Conference luncheon on Friday, October 28, 2011.

— Anne Dudley