2014 winner Ann Fisher-Wirth. Courtesy: olemiss.edu
The topmost professor on campus will be recognized with the Elise M. Hood Award at The University of Mississippi’s 72nd annual Honors Day Convocation.
The award will be presented to the most deserving professor on faculty at The University of Mississippi. Ann Fisher-Wirth, the 2014 award recipient, will bestow the award to this year’s winner and deliver a speech.
“I am looking forward to making my speech at the Honors Day Convocation — though it’s also pretty scary — and to be sharing this wonderful award with next year’s winner, whoever he or she may be,” Fisher-Wirth said.
The Elsie M. Hood Award is the highest honor one can receive as a faculty member at The University of Mississippi.
The Faculty Senate of The University of Mississippi, which wanted a program of recognition that rewarded superior teaching performance, proposed the idea of the award to Chancellor J.D. Williams in 1965. In the following year during the spring of 1966, the nominations were requested to be “a supporting statement not to exceed 500 words,” from faculty, students and alumni. Vice Chancellor W. Alton Bryant requested the award to be bestowed on Honors Days and announced during commencement ceremonies. These parameters have continued on as traditions to this day.
“This ability to grow, to change, has kept teaching alive and exciting for me,” Fisher-Wirth said.
Fisher-Wirth explains that in her mind there are responsibilities that come along with accepting the Hood Award.
“To learn as much and teach as well as I possibly can; to be a whole person in the classroom, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually; to engage with and listen to students, encouraging them to develop their own engagement with not only the course material but also the life of the mind,” Fisher-Wirth said.
William Berry, assistant professor of law and winner of the 2013 Hood Award, encourages students, faculty and alumni to nominate professors whom they believe to have made a difference in their experience at Ole Miss. Assistant, associate and full professors are all eligible to be nominated for the award. Nominations must include letters that describe examples of exceptional teaching and reasons of his or her deserving of the award as well as all previously submitted letters of the nominee. Nominations are due no later than March 1.
“It is about the quality of the nomination and the details provided about the ways in which the teacher has made a difference in the student’s life,” Berry said.
The Elsie M. Hood Award is a way for students and the community to recognize individuals who have had a big impact in their lives. Ole Miss is extremely spirited about the overall experience one has during their time at this university.
“We really value teaching here at Ole Miss. We are extremely passionate about what goes on in the classroom,” Berry said.
The selection committee for the Hood Award is comprised of eight faculty members who are previous winners, the director of Alumni Affairs and one student representative.
The winner of the Elsie M. Hood Award will receive $5,000 and a personal plaque with his or her name engraved on it, as well as a plaque displayed in the Chancellor’s office.
When asked what his reaction was when he was presented with the Elsie M. Hood Award in 2013, Berry said, “I was shocked and just very humbled. Many of the people I admired most on campus were prior winners, which made it particularly meaningful to me.”
The event will be held at The Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts in mid-April.
