Four professors earn Citations for Meritorious Teaching

University of Hawaiʻi
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Posted: Jul 12, 2011

Steve Businger
Steve Businger
Alison Conner
Alison Conner
Charles Fletcher
Charles Fletcher
Wendell Kekailoa Perry
Wendell Kekailoa Perry
HONOLULU — Four University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa faculty members—Steven Businger of meteorology in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), Alison Conner of the William S. Richardson School of Law, Charles Fletcher of geology and geophysics in SOEST, and Wendell Kekailoa Perry of the Hawai‘inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge—have each been presented with a 2011 UH Mānoa Chancellor’s Citation for Meritorious Teaching by Chancellor Virginia S. Hinshaw. The annual award recognizes UH Mānoa faculty members who have made significant contributions to teaching and student learning.
 
Businger is an active meteorology research scientist in the evolution and structure of destructive atmospheric storms. He articulates his philosophy of teaching through the theme of using nature’s creativity and imagination to stimulate these qualities in students. He engages them by demonstrating that science is not the privilege of a small number of researchers but part of the vast reality of living—the how, what and why of everything in human experience. Businger’s teaching practices are derived from the understanding that students can flourish in oral and writing intensive courses through implementation of his own teaching designs, with the ultimate goal of “exposing students of meteorology to the tools of their future trade.”
 
Conner is an exemplary scholar and mentor’s mentor. Her teaching style, in courses such as Law and Society in China and Introduction to American Law, exudes a high level of respect for students and an abiding concern for their personal achievement. Many have described the experience of taking one of her classes at the William S. Richardson School of Law as transformational. Since assuming a leadership role in developing the renowned Pacific and Asian Legal Studies and Master of Laws programs, Conner has helped shape the careers of international students from over 30 countries. Although regularly invited to lecture at campuses throughout the world, she considers UH Mānoa to be her true teaching home.
 
Fletcher has been an admired professor of geology and geophysics in SOEST for 20 years. His courses range from introductory geology to advanced classes in Quaternary geology to global change. Fletcher’s impact is far-reaching—mentoring students, publishing scholarly works and textbooks, and educating community members and government agencies on coastal management and climate change. In Fletcher’s view, the learning process is unique: social through interaction, analytic through problem-solving, and spatial/visual through illustrations. “This education is not measured in grades or doled out by semester. These are gifts from a lifelong teacher who endeavors to improve the lives of his students each and every day regardless of venue or schedule,” explains one student.
 
Perry, an assistant professor at the Hawai‘inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, is an emerging kanaka maoli scholar, new leader in higher education and influential teacher through courses such as Hawaiian Institutions: Trusts, Organizations and Governments, Native Hawaiian Rights and Practices, and Hawai‘i: Center of the Pacific. He has been described as having the rare ability “to effectively teach as an indigenous educator about issues critical to the well-being of indigenous peoples to students who may or may not be indigenous, and who may or may not be receptive.” Perry’s many commitments to teaching include being a grant writer and principal investigator of Ka Papa Lo‘i o Kānewai Cultural Resource Center, where Mānoa students and community members join in learning about cultural practices.
 
The four awardees will be recognized for their achievements along with other UH award recipients at the annual Convocation ceremony to be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, September 27, 2011, at Kennedy Theatre on the Mānoa campus. The ceremony is open to the public at no charge; no reservations are needed.
 
The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa serves approximately 20,000 students pursuing more than 225 different degrees. Coming from every Hawaiian island, every state in the nation, and more than 100 countries, UH Mānoa students thrive in an enriching environment for the global exchange of ideas. For more information, visit http://manoa.hawaii.edu.