As we continue to confront great challenges with the COVID-19 situation facing our university, nation and the world, we have reason to celebrate today at the University of Mississippi. Each year, we look forward to this announcement — to reveal who has won the coveted Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher Award. And perhaps this year more than ever, we embrace this reason to celebrate excellence in the classroom and exceptional engagement with students.
The Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher Award is the highest honor that a University of Mississippi faculty member can receive for teaching. Nominations are submitted by students, alumni and faculty colleagues. The selection committee is comprised primarily of previous recipients of the award.
The award has been a tradition at Ole Miss for more than 50 years. Since 1988, it’s been funded with a bequest from Warren and Elsie Hood of Jackson. While Mr. and Mrs. Hood were not graduates of the University of Mississippi, they valued education strongly and understood the impact a dedicated teacher can make — not only on the students they serve, but also the greater institution. Because of their generosity, the Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher Award will continue in perpetuity. Additionally, the University of Mississippi Foundation and Ole Miss Alumni Association contribute a generous honorarium.
We also present a plaque recognizing the winner’s designation as the outstanding teacher of the year. The name of each new recipient is added to the names of previous recipients on a plaque maintained in the Library. Before announcing the person selected for this year’s award, we have a time-honored tradition of recognizing those who have been selected for this honor in the past.
1966 — William Eickhorst
1967 — Frank Anderson
1968 — Harry Eugene Perry
1969 — Joel Blass
1970 — Will St. Amand, Jr.
1971 — Miklos Bencze
1972 — Ronald Borne
1973 — Paul Oliver
1974 — Jere Hoar
1975 — Gloria Kellum
1976 — Charles Nevin Jones
1977 — Harvey Lewis
1978 — Vaughn Grisham
1979 — James Mengert
1980 — John Winkle, III
1981 — Kwang Sik Yun
1982 — Bill Champion
1983 — Ron Bartlett
1984 — Jeanette Phillips
1985 — James Davis
1986 — Guff Abbott
1987 — Natalie Schroeder
1988 — William Staton
1989 — Rodney Phil Malone
1990 — David Sansing
1991 — James Vaughan
1992 — Dan Mattern
1993 — Raymond Liebau
1994 — Robert Weems
1995 — Billy Barrios
1996 — Kenneth Sufka
1997 — Colby Kullman
1998 — Morris Stocks
1999 — Mary Stuckey
2000 — Faye Gilbert
2001 — Ronald Schroeder
2002 — Ron Dale
2003 — Tonya Flesher
2004 — Wade Waters
2005 — Mark Wilder
2006 — Laurdella Foulkes-Levy
2007 — David Willson
2008 — Gregory Schirmer
2009 — John R. Neff
2010 — Kelly G. Wilson
2011 — Ethel Young Scurlock
2012 — John H. O’Haver
2013 — William Wells Berry
2014 — Ann Fisher-Wirth
2015 — Robert D. Brown
2016 — John Czarnetzky
2017 — John Rimoldi
2018 — Ann Monroe
2019 — John Young
The recipient of the 2020 Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher of the Year is known as a dedicated professor who uses his exceptional teaching talents to train students in his field of cognitive psychology.
He was recognized by his nominees as an outstanding teacher who not only provides a wealth of knowledge to his students, but delivers it in an engaging and understandable way. He has become known for instilling a passion in his students — not only for the subject, but for learning itself.
In a nomination letter, one student wrote: “I was constantly captivated by the knowledge he shared and the way he shared it, which kept his students actively involved. Because of the respect he showed for his students and the subject, I always felt heard by him. He made me passionate for the subject, shared his own experiences and constantly engaged his students.”
Students and colleagues alike have remarked on this professor’s exceptional teaching skills and commitment to serving as a mentor. Another nominator said, “His teaching methods are superb in really helping the students understand the material. He is great at keeping everyone’s attention during lecture. His classes are enjoyable yet very insightful. Outside of class, he is helpful in any way possible. He works with every one of his students to ensure they get everything they can to best learn the course material.”
This year’s honoree earned a B.A. in psychology from California State University in Fresno. He then went on to earn M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in psychology at Purdue University. In 2004, he joined the University of Mississippi faculty. His research focuses on the effects of social influences on cognitive processes, human memory, reality construction and eyewitness testimony.
Our awardee is quick to credit others, including his wife, who got her Ph.D. from Ole Miss and works with at-risk students on campus. He also credits a lot of insightful information about teaching and helping students improve their classroom performance to his colleague Dr. Ken Sufka, a previous Elsie Hood Award winner.
Our 2020 honoree touts the importance of including real-world anecdotes and longer stories that relate back to the course material and how that can improve students’ understanding and memory for complicated concepts. In fact, his research lab is focusing on how creating and telling stories can improve memory performance.
But, by far, the biggest influence on him as an instructor is the information he receives from the students he’s taught over the years. So many of the examples that he uses and stories that he shares relating to his course material come from things that students mentioned while covering a topic or sent to him years after completing his class.
This professor has a number of publications, submitted manuscripts and presentations, but above all, our awardee this year is an outstanding teacher. First and foremost, his commitment is to serving his students. In reading his nomination letters, what is most striking is how he embodies the high standards we associate classically with higher learning.
One student noted how he challenges his students yet his classes are engaging, fun and productive. Another praised his teaching style, describing how his stories and his way of teaching helped her excel in the class and retain the information she was learning. She said, “He is the best teacher I’ve had in the four years I’ve been at Ole Miss. He really makes you relate to the information being taught while actually teaching it.”
Another student nomination described a deep investment in the students: “He looks out for the well-being of his students and he would like to see all of us succeed. He always has a smile on his face, and it is very obvious that he is passionate about his job.”
I know the entire university community joins me in congratulating Dr. Matthew Reysen, Associate Professor of Psychology, as the 2020 Elsie M. Hood Teacher of the Year. We are very proud of your commitment to our students that has led to this esteemed honor.
Sincerely,
Glenn F. Boyce
Chancellor
