Lyon
College today celebrates the unprecedented selection of its 13th faculty member
in 18 years as Arkansas Professor of the Year.The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) have again recognized Lyon College for the quality of its faculty by naming Dr. Catherine Bordeau, associate professor of French, as the 2006 Arkansas Professor of the Year.
The announcement was to be made today at a luncheon ceremony in Washington, D.C., for all of this year's Professor of the Year honorees. Dr. Bordeau and her husband, Hira Herrington, along with Lyon President and Mrs. Walter B. Roettger, are attending the ceremony. Following the awards ceremony, Dr. Bordeau will visit with members of Lyon's congressional delegation before attending an evening reception recognizing all honorees.
Lyon College's record of 13 Professor of the Year Awards is unmatched by any other college in the country. Lyon has won the national honor nine out of the last 10 years. No other institution of higher learning in Arkansas has won more than four.
“What a great choice!” said Dr. Walter B. Roettger, president of Lyon. “Dr. Bordeau is a superb classroom teacher, talented researcher and great adviser. CASE and the Carnegie Foundation got it absolutely right when they selected her Arkansas' Professor of the Year!”
The U.S. Professors of the Year program salutes the most outstanding undergraduate instructors in the country - those who excel as teachers and influence the lives and careers of their students. It is recognized as one of the most prestigious awards honoring professors.
“I am grateful for this award and for the support of my students and colleagues,” Dr. Bordeau said. “It is a privilege to work with the talented students and outstanding faculty at Lyon College. This award testifies to Lyon's excellence as a liberal arts college promoting close work between professors and students and the ideal of the teacher-scholar.”
In her statement in the nomination materials, she said, “At Lyon College, we emphasize teaching as central to our mission, provide individual attention to students, and seek to bring our research into the classroom. I have thrived as a teacher-scholar in this setting.”
Dr. Bordeau joined the Lyon College faculty in 1995. Courses she teaches include Intermediate French, 18th-Century French Studies, 19th-Century French Studies and 20th-Century French Studies.
Originally from Marquette, Mich., she holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature and a B.A. with distinction in French and English, both from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Before coming to Lyon, Dr. Bordeau was a teaching assistant in French in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan.
Her research in French literature has been published in scholarly journals and she has presented papers at professional conferences. She is a member of the Modern Language Association's Delegate Assembly.
Dr. John Peek, vice president for academic services and dean of the faculty, said in his letter nominating Dr. Bordeau that she is a “highly regarded and effective classroom instructor,” an assessment affirmed by high marks she has received on student evaluations.
“Catherine is also a caring and effective academic adviser,” Dr. Peek said. “Her work with students … is exemplary. Notable in this regard are her tireless efforts on behalf of students interested in studying in France for a semester or more.”
He said the frequency with which Lyon students study in France is testimony to her efforts in this regard. Dr. Bordeau has led several Nichols International Studies trips to France. The Nichols program courses include two weeks of study abroad as part of the curriculum.
She has a strong record of service to the college, Dr. Peek said. Dr. Bordeau currently serves on the task force on general education and as chair of the promotion and tenure committee. She also is administrator of the Lyon-Poitiers Exchange Program.
In the community, she has been an advocate for recycling and has participated in the college's annual Service Day, when the faculty, staff and students go out into the community and work on service projects. She is coordinator of the Lyon College Recycling Program and a member of the Independence County Recycling Education Committee.
Dr. Bordeau's students, in their letters of support, spoke of her thoroughness, her ability to make learning a foreign language fun, and her willingness to help them outside the classroom.
Krystle Perkins, a 2003 Lyon graduate and now a doctoral candidate at the University of Kansas, said, “Students learn not only the French language, but also the history, customs, art and architecture of all French-speaking countries. Her multidisciplinary and global approach to the study of French is successful in opening students' eyes to many things an educated person should know.”
Skye M. Hart, class of '06 and currently pursuing as master's degree at Arizona State University, said he initially took introductory-level French to satisfy the college's foreign language requirement. “Before long,” he wrote, “the required two semesters passed, but I still wanted to continue studying French with Dr. Bordeau and so I continued to enroll in French classes, and finally decided to declare my second major in French.”
Hart explained that “Madame Bordeau,” as her students fondly call her, “challenges students through immersing them in the French language and culture from the first day of class by conducting the class entirely in French.” He said she goes to great lengths to ensure that her students readily understand the material she presents.