OXFORD, Miss. – Nominations are open until March 1 for the
campuswide outstanding teacher of the year award at the
University of Mississippi.
Faculty, staff, students and alumni are welcome to submit
letters of nomination for the 2008 Elsie M. Hood
Outstanding Teacher Award. All assistant, associate and
full-time professors may be nominated with the exception of
previous winners.
“A teacher’s greatest reward may be earning the respect and
admiration of his or her students,” said Chancellor Robert
Khayat. “Many of our faculty deserve such awards every day
in the classroom. To be chosen to receive the Elsie M. Hood
Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award is a high and coveted
honor on our campus. We encourage nominations to help us
identify those most deserving.”
Nomination letters should be limited to two pages, citing
specific examples of the nominee’s teaching excellence and
other reasons for his or her being worthy of the honor.
Mail letters to the Chancellor, 123 Lyceum, University of
Mississippi, University, MS 38677.
Winner of the prestigious award is to be announced on April
3 at the Honors Day Convocation and presented with a
personal plaque and monetary award. A plaque listing all
previous Elsie M. Hood awardees is displayed in the J.D.
Williams Library.
Band Director David Willson won the 2007 Elsie M. Hood
Award. Willson said that receiving the award was both
flattering and humbling.
“Seeing students achieve their goals motivates me,” he
said. “I’m humbled and grateful that I have had an
opportunity to teach such wonderful students. They’ve
taught me much more than I’ve taught them.”
The outstanding teacher award has been a tradition at Ole
Miss since 1966. In 1988, Mr. and Mrs. Warren A. Hood Sr.
of Jackson made a gift to the university to endow the
award, and it was named in her honor. In 2000, the couple
made another gift to support the award so that it continues
in perpetuity.
For a list of past winners of the Elsie M. Hood Outstanding
Teacher Award and other information visit
http://www.olemiss.edu/news/hood?award/recipients.html.