The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education have named Dr. Carmen Acevedo Butcher at Shorter College the 2006 Georgia Professor of the Year...
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education have named Dr. Carmen Acevedo Butcher at Shorter College the 2006 Georgia Professor of the Year. Dr. Butcher was selected from among nearly 300 top professors in the United States.
A member of the Shorter College faculty since 2002, Dr. Butcher currently serves as scholar-in-residence at the college’s Rome campus. In addition to teaching English courses, she is a prolific researcher and author. Her recent publications include Man of Blessing: A Life of St. Benedict, which was released in March 2006 by Paraclete Press and reprinted in May 2006, and God of Mercy: Ælfric’s Sermons and Theology, which was released in 2006 by Mercer University Press. The book, “Hildegard of Bingen: A Spiritual Reader,” is scheduled for a Spring 2007 release by Paraclete Press. Dr. Butcher’s book “A Lenten Journey: Stations of the Cross, with the Spiritual Classics” is also under contract with Paraclete Press. In addition, this year she has published a number of poems and essays in collections and journals.
“Dr. Butcher stands out among her peers because of her academic credentials and scholarly production,” said Dr. Craig Shull, Shorter College provost. “Equally remarkable is that fact that she is not only a good scholar but also a good teacher. She uses Internet technology and interactive research to involve her students in the learning process.
She is really skilled at interaction with students. On top of all of that is a wonderful personality. She is always friendly, always positive, always looking forward and always talking about what we can do. A lot of time when scholars are productive, they are very focused on their research and have little time for other things. It is pretty rare for a professor to be that productive and that personable with her students and her peers. Shorter College is fortunate to count Carmen Butcher as one of our own.”
A graduate of Cherokee High School in Canton, Ga., Dr. Butcher earned her Bachelor of Arts degree (summa cum laude) from Shorter College with a major in English. She holds the Master of Arts in English and the Doctor of Philosophy in Medieval Studies (Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Georgia. She was a Rotary Club International Graduate Scholar at Heidelberg University and a Fulbright Scholar at University College London. During the 2004-05 academic year, a Fulbright Scholars Program grant took her to Sogang University in Seoul, Korea, where she served as a visiting lecturer.
CASE established the Professors of the Year program in
1981, and the Carnegie Foundation became the co- sponsor a year later. TIAA-CREF, one of America’s leading financial services organizations and higher education’s premier retirement system, became the primary sponsor for the awards ceremony in 2000. Additional support for the program is received from a number of higher education associations, including Phi Beta Kappa.
This year, there are winners in 43 states, Guam, and the District of Columbia. CASE assembled two preliminary panels of judges to select finalists. The Carnegie Foundation then convened the third and final panel, which selected four national winners. CASE and Carnegie select state winners from top entries resulting from the judging process. Dr. Butcher was selected from faculty members
nominated by colleges and universities throughout the country.
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching was founded in 1905 by Andrew Carnegie to do all things necessary to encourage, uphold and dignify the profession of teaching.” The foundation is the only advanced-study center for teachers in the world and the third-oldest foundation in the nation. Its nonprofit research activities are conducted by a small group of distinguished scholars.
The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is the largest international association of education institutions, serving more than 3,200 universities, colleges, schools and related organizations in 54 countries. CASE is the leading resource for professional development, information and standards in the fields of educational fundraising, communications, marketing and alumni relations.