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Faculty receive Award for Outstanding Teaching

10/15/2002—The College of Arts and Architecture has named Sam Dennis, assistant professor of landscape architecture; Annie McGregor, associate professor of theatre arts; and Jeanne Chenault Porter, associate professor of art history, as recipients of the 2002 Outstanding Teaching Award.

Dennis teaches the undergraduate landscape architecture design studio sequence, writing-intensive courses and graduate studios. He has incorporated service-learning projects into his writing courses, and serves as coordinator of the B.L.A./M.L.A. integrated program. Dennis also serves as an ambassador for visiting prospective students and is a faculty mentor in the Arts and Architecture Interest House in Leete Hall. A graduate student in the B.L.A./M.L.A. degree program nominated Dennis for the Outstanding Teaching Award.

McGregor, who was also honored with the 2002 George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching, teaches both undergraduate and graduate students in the theatre arts program. She teaches Theatre 100, one of the most popular general education courses on the University Park campus, and is responsible for the School of Theatre's graduate-level dramatic literature sequence. Her colleagues and students praise her excellence as a teacher, artist and scholar. A faculty colleague nominated McGregor for the Outstanding Teaching Award. McGregor joined the theatre faculty in 1996.

Porter teaches Italian, Spanish and French Baroque art. She also supervises theses in 20th century American art. She has been described as a strong advocate for her students, many of whom go on to successful careers in art history. Porter will be on sabbatical in the fall of 2002 to work on a book titled The Triumph of Paining in Seventeenth-Century Naples. Alumnus Michael Tomor, president of the Arts and Architecture Performing Arts Alumni Society, nominated Porter for this award.