David J. King Teaching Awards

The David J. King Teaching Award is given annually to a faculty member who has made significant, long-term contributions to the overall educational excellence of the university. The winner will be honored concurrent with the spring celebration of Teaching Excellence Awards and will receive a stipend. Please help us identify faculty who should be considered for this recognition.

Nomination Process:

Nominees will be asked to submit a statement detailing their contributions to teaching and learning at Mason, a complete teaching/instructional CV, and a list of three references. Nominations are accepted in fall and early spring each year for recognition at the ceremony in April.

Nomination Deadline: Nominations for this award are due in early February.

Method: To nominate someone for this award, please write a letter describing the nominee’s educational and teaching contributions to the Mason community.

Eligibility: Since this is a career contributions award, nominees must have been at Mason a minimum of 20 years in order to be eligible for this award.

Send Nominations to: The Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning at [email protected].

If you have questions or would like further information, please contact the the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning.

Criteria:

• Transformative impact: Their work has had significant impact (e.g., on the institution, on academic units/departments, on students) and has enhanced the quality of the student experience
• Capacity building: Their efforts have built institutional capacity, promoting growth in students, colleagues, and/or programs
• Consistently and excellent classroom teaching: They can document a trajectory of excellent teaching, as measured by feedback from students and colleagues, formal recognitions, and course materials
• Program and curricular development: They have been active in curriculum (re)design and/or academic program-building in and/or beyond their academic unit
• Public scholarship and dissemination: Their scholarship and creative activities have brought and/or continue to bring recognition and honor for Mason in various ways
• Creative mentorship: Their career evidences support for student learning inside and outside the classroom
• Innovative work: They can document leadership in areas that help Mason remain at the forefront of high quality teaching and learning
• Consistently productive longevity: Their contributions have been consistently high quality over their Mason career
• Dedication, commitment, contributing/giving back to the Mason community: Their actions evince a steady commitment to key goals and principles of Mason

About Dr. David J. King:

Dr. David J. King served as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Mason from 1982 until his retirement in January 1988. This was a time of significant growth and change at the university. Dr. King’s leadership during this time helped bring Mason into the national spotlight.

There were many issues that Dr. King believed in and worked for, but none was more important to him than teaching – both his own and that of others. Throughout his administrative career, he searched for ways to support and improve undergraduate instruction. One of his major accomplishments was the institution of a quantitative teaching evaluation process. He also brought George Mason national attention through his energetic recruitment of outstanding faculty members. This award, inaugurated in 2001, honors his memory and the legacy he left at Mason.