John Hogg Named 2007 Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence

COLLEGE STATION -- Texas A&M University Professor of Chemistry and Thaman Professor of Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Dr. John L. Hogg has been selected as one of two 2007 Presidential Professors for Teaching Excellence at Texas A&M University.

The presidential professor designation, the highest honor bestowed by the University for teaching excellence, includes a $25,000 after-tax cash stipend believed to be the highest-valued awards in the nation presented annually by a single institution to honor its faculty.

The presidential professorships were established in 2003 to underscore the importance of teaching at a major research university. The presidential professor designations are retained by recipients for the duration of their teaching careers.

Dr. Stephen H. Daniel, professor of philosophy and holder of the Murray and Celeste Fasken Chair in Distinguished Teaching, also received the prestigious honor for 2007.

"Texas A&M is a great university and we have great teachers, certainly including Professors Daniel and Hogg, who personify what this award is all about," noted Interim President Ed Davis in announcing their selection. "This is a highly significant way to recognize our outstanding and ever-improving faculty, which is at the heart of all that we do."

Texas A&M has for many years had numerous awards for teaching, with many of them funded by The Association of Former Students, which this spring presented 10 such university-level awards, in addition to those given to faculty and staff in other categories. The alumni organization also sponsors numerous college-level teaching awards.

Nominations for the presidential professorships are made annually by each of the university‘s 10 colleges, the Center for Teaching Excellence, Student Government and the Graduate Student Council, with each entity making one nomination. The Faculty Senate reviews and narrows the list, and the president then makes the final selections.

Both Daniel and Hogg have previously presented The Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching at various times.

A member of the Texas A&M faculty since 1975, Hogg has been recognized on four separate occasions by The Association of Former Students with two University-level awards for outstanding teaching, a University-level award for outstanding student relationships and a College-level award for outstanding teaching. He has also been honored by the Texas A&M University Advisors and Counselors Organization as the outstanding faculty advisor.

In a letter supporting Hogg's nomination, one former student wrote, "I can honestly say that each one of my successes was made possible in part by the varied lessons that I learned from Dr. John Hogg. As my undergraduate advisor, Dr. Hogg‘s door was always open to discuss anything from scheduling problems, global warming, or even some crazy demo he had prepared. I was always learning something new from him even outside of the classroom environment."

Hogg is the third College of Science faculty member to merit the coveted honor since its inception in 2003, the same year in which Professor of Physics William H. Bassichis earned selection as one of the award's two inaugural recipients. Professor of Chemistry David E. Bergbreiter also received the honor in 2006.

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Contact: Tim Schnettler, Marketing & Communications, 979-845-4680 or tschnettler@tamu.edu