The Residence Hall Association (RHA) honored nine Emory professors at the 14th annual Crystal Apple awards ceremony on Feb. 25 to commend instructors who go beyond educational standards to connect with his or her students.

The event took place at the at the Miller-Ward Alumni House. The Crystal Apple award was an initiative started by the Student Government Association fourteen years ago and was later adopted by RHA.

This year, a new category was created to honor excellence in teaching by a graduate student. According to Jessica Simon, vice president of programming for RHA, the category was created because RHA received a large number of nominations for graduate student instructors.

At this year’s ceremony, students post-humously awarded a Crystal Apple to Otto Froehlich, an associate professor of physiology in the School of Medicine, who died unexpectedly last semester. His family members accepted the award on his behalf.

This year’s eight other Crystal Apple award recipients were Samiran Banerjee, a senior lecturer in economics in the College; Nancy Bliwise, a professor of pedagogy in the psychology department in the College; Sara Freeman, a graduate student in neuroscience in the College; Christopher Gilson, a biology instructor in the College; Judith Miller, an associate professor of history in the College; Christopher Rider, an assistant professor of organization and management at the Goizueta Business School; Thomas More Smith, an assistant professor in the practice of finance in the Goizueta Business School and Deanna Womack, an instructor in the School of Nursing.

Students were asked to nominate teachers who made a strong impact on their education. This year, the number of nominations doubled from 300 to 600.

Recipients of the award expressed that the Crystal Apple is a special recognition because the award comes directly from the student body.

“I have enjoyed teaching at Emory so very much,” Miller said. “I have enjoyed the way that students rise to a challenge and to see that they felt a connection to my classes means a lot to me.”

Rider called the award a “great honor” and joked that because so many of his colleagues are also great teachers, they must have been “somehow ineligible” for the award.

Prior to the announcement of the winners, RHA collected nominations and a committee of students went through the data and selected the recipients, according to Simon.

“We were looking for faculty that really went above and beyond, not just someone that is excited about teaching, but someone that really demonstrated how much they care and how passionate they are by going beyond what is required of them to make sure students understand and enjoy their class,” Simon said.

The selection process offers new exposure to Emory professors because previous winners are not eligible to receive the award a second time even if he or she received the most recommendations, according to Simon.

“Sometimes it’s a close call and sometimes it’s like politics, so there are some that should theoretically get it every year because they have the most and the best nominations, but as part of RHA, we like to kind of turn it around,” Simon explained.

Simon clarified that Allison Burdette, who won a Crystal Apple last year, had a significant number of nominations this year and had she not previously won, the student committee would have selected her again.

The award is unique, explained Simon, because the Crystal Apple award is not only student selected, but students also plan, coordinate and run the awards ceremony which is held at the Miller-Ward Alumni House.

Guests in attendance of the award ceremony included Dean of Students Bridget Riordan, Emory Trustee Laura Jones Hardman and Emory College Dean Robin Forman.

Miller noted that she is thankful for her students and what they do for her over the course of the semester.

“I see each student as being a gift in a certain sense that has been brought into my life that I never quite know what I’m going to learn about from them,” said Miller. “As I get to know them personally, or get to hear about their lives, what their dreams are, what they hope to do, there is a certain incredible sense of joy that builds over the course of the semester as you get to know the students as individuals.”

By Dustin Slade 

Photo courtesy of Emory Report

+ posts

The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.

The Wheel is financially and editorially independent from the University. All of its content is generated by the Wheel’s more than 100 student staff members and contributing writers, and its printing costs are covered by profits from self-generated advertising sales.