Smith, Edwin

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eGrove (Univ. of Mississippi)

University of Mississippi eGrove University of Mississippi News 4-14-2012 CMSE Founder, Chemical Engineering Professor is 2012 UM Teacher of the Year Edwin Smith Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/umnews Recommended Citation Smith, Edwin, "CMSE Founder, Chemical Engineering Professor is 2012 UM Teacher of the Year" (2012). University of Mississippi News. 1048. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/umnews/1048 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Mississippi News by an authorized administrator of eGrove. For more information, please contact egrove@olemiss.edu. Search this website … SearchCMSE Founder, Chemical Engineering Professor is 2012UM Teacher of the YearAPRIL 14, 2012 BY EDWIN SMITHOXFORD, Miss. – John O’Haver’s vision, drive and enthusiasm inspire University of Mississippistudents, faculty and staff in an almost contagious manner.Colleagues across campus have taken notice of his lively teaching style, and alumni cite him as a majorinfluence on their own successes. Thursday evening, at the university’s 69th Honors Day Convocation,Chancellor Dan Jones introduced the professor of chemical engineering as recipient of the 2012 Elsie M.Hood Outstanding Teacher Award.“For me, teaching is much more than just the content, though it is obviously very important. Teachersshaped my life; I want to be available to help others,” said O’Haver, a native Oklahoman who also servesas director of the Center for Math and Science Education. “This award is a recognition that others think Ihave done my job, and done it well. That I have covered the content, but also influenced lives for thebetter. That has always been my desire. “In many ways, O’Haver is exactly the kind of teacher the award was created to honor, Jones said.“While having the fervor to reach out to public schools, Dr. O’Haver has been a respected researcher, amentor of undergraduate and graduate researchers, a superior classroom teacher and an innovativeadministrator,” Jones said. O’Haver is the university’s only faculty member to have twice beenrecognized with the Faculty Achievement Award, UM’s highest award given to a single faculty membereach year who combines excellence in teaching, research and service.“As a teacher-scholar, Dr. O’Haver is our university’s very best,” Jones added.It’s the second major award this week for O’Haver, who was named Tuesday as one of the first 12winners of the Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Awards.  The winners, one from eachSEC institution, are recognized for extraordinary teaching and for records of scholarship that arerecognized nationally and/or internationally.A member of the UM faculty since 1996, O’Haver teaches undergraduate and graduate courses inchemical engineering. Students praise him as a powerful educator, motivator and mentor.“He engages in life coaching as much as teaching,” one student wrote in her nomination letter for theHood award. Another marveled that, “Dr. O is the best teacher I have known and is undoubtedly an evenbetter mentor.”O’Haver had always wanted to be an educator at the university level.“When I left teaching high school to go back to grad school, I knew that I wanted to go into academia. IRead the story …Read the story …Follow us on socialCampus BriefsStudents Learn ‘Real Politics’ inWashington, D.C., Winter SessionOXFORD, Miss. – Eleven University ofMississippi students spent their winterbreak learning about the people who workbehind the scenes of the Americangovernment in Washington, D.C. Lead byJonathan Klingler, assistant professor ofpolitical science, the students of Pol 391:Applied Politics met not with candidates,but with the people who make candidates’More Posts from this CategoryThank You To OurDonorsYoung Alumna Gives Back to Schoolof AccountancyOXFORD, Miss. – Stephanie JenningsTeague, of Chicago, sees her commitmentof $100,000 to the Patterson School ofAccountancy‘s new building at theUniversity of Mississippi as a means ofsaying “thank you.” “It is a way to show asmall token of my appreciation to OleMiss, the faculty and staff, and theaccountingMore Posts from this CategoryOle Miss In the NewsReuters: Keep an Eye on the MoneySupplyU.S. inflation roller coaster prompts freshlook at long-ignored money supply ByMichael S. Derby NEW YORK – Theamount of money sloshing around the U.S.economy shrank last year for the first timeon record, a development that someeconomists believe bolsters the case forU.S. inflation pressures continuing toabate. The Federal Reserve’sNews Releases UM COVID-19 Video Gallery University Communications Ole Miss Homepage Ole Miss News BlogFacebookTwitterLin edInEmailCopyLinkSMSPrintFriendlySharFacebookTwitterInstagramLinkedInYouTubeChanneljust love working with students,” he said. “I love the ‘light-bulb’ moments. I like being a mentor to thosewho want me to be one.“I poke fun at myself. I am very transparent. I do a lot with problem-based learning. We do a lot inteams. I try hard to make the tough concepts very clear and memorable. I try to relate them to life andthen ask them to apply the concepts.”The goal is to let his students know he cares, he said.“My undergrad days were some of the worst for me, mostly because I didn’t have anyone in my life that Icould ask tough questions. So I am available to say to students, ‘I’ve been there. I’ve walked the roughpath. I’ve made these bad decisions and I can tell you what happened.'”O’Haver earned his bachelor’s and his master’s degrees in secondary education and his doctoral degreein chemical engineering, all from the University of Oklahoma. Since joining the UM faculty, he has been‘the’ leader for outreach efforts that focus on university-level expertise toward improving science,technology, engineering and mathematics teaching in public schools, with special emphasis in the K-6grade levels.He was appointed associate dean for academic and student affairs for UM’s School of Engineering. Inthis role, O’Haver developed new programs, including a set of writing courses for engineering studentsand a special class to help certain entering engineering majors shore up their fundamental academicskills.An accomplished researcher with expertise in applied surfactants and surface chemistry, he publishesregularly in the peer-reviewed journals in his field and has directed the theses and dissertations ofapproximately 20 students, including a number as part of a cooperative arrangement with institutions inThailand.O’Haver and his wife, Kevie, have a son, Hudson, and a daughter, Maren, both 14.Each year since 1966, the university has recognized excellence in teaching by presenting the Elsie M.Hood Outstanding Teacher Award. Based on nominations from both students and faculty, the awardincludes a personal plaque and a check from the chancellor. Recipients’ names are also engraved on aplaque listing previous winners, which is displayed in the J. D. Williams Library.FILED UNDER: APPS-FACULTY AND STAFF, SCHOOL OF ENGINEERINGRead the story …More Posts from this CategoryRetu rn  to  to p  o f  p a ge Copyright © 2023 · Th e Un iversity  o f  M ississ ip p i

CMSE Founder, Chemical Engineering Professor is 2012 UM Teacher of the Year

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CMSE Founder, Chemical Engineering Professor is 2012 UM Teacher of the Year

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