Professor wins national award

Shane O'Dea

"Innovation can only be sustained in an environment where innovative thinking is nurtured." Claude Legrand, entrepreneur

Shane O'Dea, English, was named as one of the 10 national recipients of the prestigious 3M Teaching Fellowships. The award was announced on June 12, 2002 at the annual conference of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in Hamilton, Ontario.

This award recognizes excellence in teaching over an extended period of time, principally but not exclusively at the undergraduate level, and also acknowledges educational leadership in commitment to the improvement of university teaching within the candidate's own institution.

Mr. O'Dea has been a faculty member at Memorial since 1970 and has been consistently recognized for his teaching excellence, his personal interest in his students and his high academic standards.

"Professor O'Dea excels in all dimensions of scholarly activity, both in the university and the community, and has been a singular influence in raising public awareness for the preservation of Newfoundland's architectural heritage," said Dr. Evan Simpson, vice-president (academic).

"Professor O'Dea has been a mentor to me and countless other students at Memorial. His concern for his students' intellectual growth is exceptional, resulting in many students like me, who take as many courses with him as they can," said Andrea Budgell, an English graduate. "But perhaps his most defining quality as a teacher is his dedication to finding new and better ways to teach his students."

Mr. O'Dea has been involved in numerous educational leadership activities at Memorial, sharing both his professional knowledge and his interest in teaching in countless committees and workshops. He was a recipient of the President's Award for Distinguished Teaching at Memorial University in 1988 and is the only Newfoundlander to receive the Canadian Professor of the Year Award sponsored by the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education. He is also the public orator for Memorial, responsible for the delivery of the orations for honorary graduates since 1995.

This is the third time that faculty of Memorial University have been honored with this award; the other two recipients were Dr. Penny Hansen in 1990 and Dr. Michael Collins in 1998.