Friday Feature • Excellence in Teaching

Friday, October 6, 2023

Dr. Mauro goes back to class, meets new faculty, and is reminded of our many, many successful professors.

Wednesday, while I was preparing to do a guest lecture in a class (which I haven’t done in way too long!) and to host new employees for some food and drink at my house, I took a moment to draw inspiration from the academic icons at Alfred State.

Excellence in Teaching award winners like Michael Putnam, who I see at nearly all of our sporting events, or Annie Constantine, who supports many of our greatest causes. Or professors like Calista McBride, who is a voice for our students and faculty across SUNY, or Matthew Lawrence, who welcomed a group of administrators into his lab this week as we were touring. There are too many good people on this “Wall of Fame” with too many good stories to share.

Who do you know personally and professionally on this wall, and what story can you share?

Regardless, the collection of these stories tells the story of Alfred State, and it is a story of teaching excellence and service to our students. Please be sure to thank these individuals for compelling us to be the best we can be through the example they set.

Spending the evening with our new employees was a fantastic event. What great stories I heard, including those from Kim Seokbeom who has been welcomed into the criminal justice department by his fellow colleagues with open arms, or Holly Holevinski, who takes her students on tours of our ongoing construction projects as a real-life learning experience for them. I especially liked the story of Kassidy Howard, who as an instructor of math and physics talked about following in the footsteps of his father who worked here at Alfred State. It is clear to me that our students will be in good hands with our next generation of new employees.

The lecture I gave was also great fun and reminded me why we do what we do. There were future healthcare workers, scientists, humanitarians, and educators in the audience. Who knows, maybe one or more of them will be the next of the great leaders at Alfred State? Lets hope so!