TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama National Alumni Association has announced the 2010 recipients of the University’s highest honor for excellence in teaching – the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Awards.
This year’s recipients are: Dr. Bruce K. Berger and Dr. Gary A. Copeland, professors in the College of Communication and Information Sciences; Dr. Pauline Doherty Johnson and Dr. Philip Webb Johnson, professors in the College of Engineering, and Dr. Emily O. Wittman, assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences.
The 2010 OCTA recipients were recognized today by UA President Robert E. Witt at the fall faculty/staff meeting in the Bryant Conference Center. A presentation of awards is also held at NorthRiver Yacht Club with the National Alumni Association.
Established in 1976, OCTA recognizes dedication to the teaching profession and the positive impact outstanding teachers have on their students.
The National Alumni Association, which gives the annual OCTA awards, is made up of some 30,000 active alumni and friends of the University organized into more than 110 local chapters nationwide. The association stimulates interest in and supports the betterment of the University and awards $2.5 million per year in scholarships to 2,000 students.
The 2010 OCTA winners are:
Dr. Bruce K. Berger joined the UA faculty in 1999. He served as chair of the advertising and public relations department and as the founding director of the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations, prior to becoming the Reese Phifer Professor of Advertising and Public Relations in 2009. Berger received his bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University, his master’s degree from Western Michigan University and his doctoral degree from the University of Kentucky.
Prior to entering academia, Berger was a public relations professional and executive. He served as European public affairs manager of the Upjohn Co. and as director of Worldwide Human Health Public Relations before being named vice president of corporate affairs for Whirlpool and president of the Whirlpool Foundation. At Whirlpool, he led a team of 90 global professionals to develop and implement an international public relations strategic plan.
Berger incorporates active learning approaches and service learning projects into his classes, through which students have conducted public relations research, surveys and campaigns.
Berger’s research interests include leadership qualities and characteristics in public relations, power relations in organizations and the role of communications in public policy formation. His work has been published in many scholarly and professional publications. He serves as a member of the editorial review boards of six journals and contributes a monthly column to PRWeek.
Dr. Gary A. Copeland joined the UA faculty in 1982 as an assistant professor of broadcast and film communication. He currently serves as professor and chair of the department of telecommunication and film and also has an appointment in the communication studies department. Copeland received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from California State University-Fresno and his doctoral degree from Pennsylvania State University.
Primarily known for his research in political communication, Copeland has also written in other areas of study including rhetorical criticism. He partnered with Dr. Karen Johnson-Cartee to write the first academic book about negative political advertising and to review the counter claims regarding the efficacy of the use of these ads in a campaign.
Copeland has served as a consultant for political campaigns at the local, state, federal and international levels. As a consultant, he was also a member of the American Political Advertising Association.
Copeland’s work has been published in various scholarly journals including Journalism Quarterly, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Critical Studies in Mass Communication and more. He has also co-authored and co-edited several books.
In addition to making numerous presentations to international, national and regional academic associations, Copeland has taught courses at the University of Klagenfurt in Klagenfurt, Austria and at the University of Aruba.
Dr. Pauline Doherty Johnson, professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering, received her bachelor’s degree from Salford University in England and her doctoral degree from Queens University in Northern Ireland.
Johnson’s teaching and research interests are in the areas of alternative water and wastewater treatment systems and green building. She is currently co-principal investigator on two National Science Foundation projects – NSF-GK12 (Sustainable Energy) and NSF-Research Experience for Undergraduates (Grand Challenges). Through her service learning courses and the Engineers Without Borders program, her students have completed several project designs and installations for underserved communities from rural Alabama to villages in the Peruvian Amazon. Many of the projects focus on renewable energy and water infrastructure projects.
Johnson has been recognized for her leadership and commitment to teaching in the classroom and in service learning, research and community outreach. She has served as an advisor to 47 graduate students and included more than 30 undergraduate students in her research. She is also an advisor and mentor to undergraduate students in the UA Fellows and Computer Based Honors programs.
Johnson is the advisor and co-founder, with her husband and colleague Dr. Philip Johnson, of the UA Chapter of Engineers Without Borders. In 2007 and 2009, she received the Donald McLean Outstanding Civil Engineering Professor Award, and she received the John L. Blackburn Award for Distinguished Contributions to Students in 2008.
Dr. Philip Webb Johnson joined the faculty of the UA College of Engineering in 1990. He received his bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and his master’s and doctoral degrees from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
Now a professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering, Johnson has the unusual distinction of having been honored for teaching excellence in three different departments at UA – mineral engineering in 1992, chemical engineering in 2000 and civil engineering in 2007.
Over the last 20 years, Johnson has trained professionals from major international oil companies in countries as far as Kazakhstan, Suriname and Oman. He also served as an expert for the international media during the recent oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, being interviewed and cited no less than 50 times on ABC World News Tonight, in The New York Times, in The Guardian (London) and more.
Johnson has visited more than 80 countries through his professional experiences and travels, and he works to offer similar opportunities to his students. He founded the Alabama chapter of Engineers Without Borders with his colleague and wife Dr. Pauline Johnson. This program has allowed engineering students to participate in service learning projects and study abroad experiences in Amazonian Peru, Cambodia and rural counties in Alabama.
Dr. Emily O. Wittman joined the UA faculty in 2007 as an assistant professor of English. Prior to joining UA, Wittman was a visiting assistant professor in the department of cultures, civilizations and ideas at Bilken University in Turkey and a postdoctoral fellow in the humanities at Villanova University. She received her bachelor’s degree from Yale and her doctoral degree from Princeton.
Wittman’s innovative courses cover areas such as British modernism, world literature and translation studies. Her first article on pedagogy appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education and argues for the importance of liberal arts education for increasingly career-oriented students.
Wittman invests much of her time in working on collaborative research projects with undergraduate students. Her first collaborative research project led to a publication that was published in the journal College English, and was featured as recommended reading by the president of the Modern Language Association.
An advocate for the responsible use of technology in the humanities, Wittman runs her world literature seminar as a literary prize-granting committee, making use of a course wiki to foster collaboration among students. She has given presentations on the course for the College of Arts and Sciences and for the University of Alabama Scholars Institute in Birmingham, and she is a newly elected Distinguished Teaching Fellow in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Contact
Desiree Mahr or Linda Hill, 205/348-8325, lhill@ur.ua.edu