Administration

Communications

C-SC awards faculty prizes to Pillay and Hotle
Saturday, May 09, 2009

CANTON, Mo. – Culver-Stockton College bestowed awards on two faculty members to honor teaching innovation and excellence during the 153rd C-SC Commencement on May 9.

REULING PRIZE
The 2009 Walter S. Reuling Prize for Innovation in Student Learning was presented to Indiren Pillay, Ph.D., associate professor of biology and chairperson of the Natural and Mathematical Science Division. Pillay joined the Culver-Stockton faculty in 2005 and has led the way in enhancing science education opportunities for Culver-Stockton students. By securing grants and matching funds, Pillay has been able to acquire more advanced technology for the department, including a DNA sequencer package for undergraduate research. In addition, he spearheaded the successful effort to make Culver-Stockton one of the elite U.S. colleges and universities selected to receive a Science Education Alliance (SEA) grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Beginning this fall as part of the SEA, a select group of Culver-Stockton freshmen and sophomores will conduct laboratory research that is part of a national project on phage genomics.

The Reuling Prize, a cash award, goes to a faculty member selected by his or her peers. The award praises Pillay for his “dedication to excellence in science education [that] is building an unsurpassed student educational experience as well as strengthening the reputation of the division and Culver-Stockton.”

Before joining the C-SC faculty, Pillay was associate professor of Southwest Community College, Memphis, Tenn. Previously he was a lecturer at the University of Durban-Westville, Durban, South Africa; and a science teacher at Greenpoint Senior Secondary School, East London, South Africa. Widely published in his field, Pillay earned his bachelor’s degrees in plant science and microbiology at Rhodes University, South Africa; a master’s degree in plant physiology at Alabama A&M University, Huntsville, Ala.; and a doctorate in microbiology at the University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tenn.

HELSABECK PRIZE
C. Patrick Hotle, Ph.D., received the 2009 Helsabeck Prize for Excellence in Teaching, a cash award given annually to a faculty member who has been selected from student and faculty nominations.

Hotle joined the C-SC faculty in 1993. He is professor of history, chairperson of the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, and holder of the John A. Sperry, Jr., Endowed Chair of Humanities. As holder of the Sperry Chair, Hotle delivers the annual Sperry Lecture to the public each year, most recently speaking on the 500th anniversary of the ascension of King Henry VIII. Hotle is also C-SC coordinator of study abroad programs and has guided development of the unique study abroad courses that are part of the EXP@CSC curriculum. During each three-credit course, faculty and students travel together to an international destination as part of an intensive three-week study that involves on-campus preparation, on-site research and presentations. At least one study-abroad course is offered each semester.

In nominating Hotle, students and faculty praised his ability to make history come alive in the classroom. “You create an experience of each civilization’s arts and culture to enable students to better appreciate other time periods, other societies, and other nations,” the citation reads.

Hotle came to Culver-Stockton after teaching at the American School of the Hague, Wassenaar, the Netherlands; Cambridge University, Cambridge, England; St. John’s International School, Waterloo, Belgium; Cairo American College, Ma’adi, Cairo, Egypt; and the American-Nicaraguan School, Managua, Nicaragua. He also is a former teacher at Kennedy High School, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Hotle earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Iowa, and his master’s and doctorate at the University of Cambridge, England.

NOTE: The full text of citations presented to Dr. Pillay for the Reuling Prize and to Dr. Hotle for the Helsabeck Prize are available online at www.culver.edu/commencement.