The highest honor awarded for excellence in teaching and learning at the University of Massachusetts has been given to four faculty members and two graduate students.

The recipients of the Distinguished Teaching Award are Scott Garman, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology; Eileen Hayes, associate professor of nursing; Thomas Hannum, associate director of the Minuteman Marching Band; John McCarthy, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics; and teaching assistants Kimberly Buescher for languages, literatures and cultures and Christina Smith for sociology.

‘These awards are very selective and I was pleased and surprised to get one. It recognizes some of the effort that we in the biochemistry program put in to teaching,’ said Garman.‘

Garman added how appreciated he felt because he was selected for the award personally by the students.

‘It’s nice to get the honor from the students. I’m pleased the students like what I’m doing in the classroom,’ said Garman.

Hayes called it a ‘wonderful moment in [her] life.’

‘I feel so humbled, validated, excited and thrilled to receive it. It confirms so much of how I felt about teaching and about students over the course of a long career.‘ It was a very moving, thrilling highlight to my career,’ said Hayes.

McCarthy was ‘relieved and surprised’ to hear that he had been selected.

‘I had been nominated before and I waited a long time and I didn’t think I was going to get it. It became a goal and a target for me. It was always in the back of my mind,’ he said.

The four faculty winners were announced on April 16 at the Celebration of Teaching Dinner. The two graduate student winners will be acknowledged on May 6 at a luncheon hosted by John Mullin, dean of the Graduate School.

The Distinguished Teaching Award was established at UMass in 1962 and is regarded by faculty and staff as the campus’ most esteemed prize for teaching.‘ For faculty members, the honor includes a plaque as well as a check for $3,500. Teaching assistants earn $2,000. The names of the six winners will be added to the long list of the 130 previous recipients inscribed on permanent display in the Lincoln Campus Center.‘

The six recipients will be recognized during the Undergraduate Commencement on May 23.

In the Campus Center the display reads, ‘The Distinguished Teaching Award honors university teachers who have been nominated by students and alumni as demonstrating extraordinary commitment to teaching and student learning at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.‘ This award may be bestowed on a faculty member only once in his or her lifetime.’

Nominations for the award are made by current and former undergraduate students to a committee of undergraduates, made up of faculty members and graduate students (many of whom are previous winners of the prize).‘ This committee ultimately makes the final award decisions.

Gary Tarantino can be reached at [email protected].