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Bishop, LaCursia, Radasanu, Swan win awards for excellent undergrad teaching, instruction

April 16, 2012
Terrence Bishop, Nancy LaCursia, Andrea Radasanu and Matthew J. Swan

Terrence Bishop, Nancy LaCursia, Andrea Radasanu and Matthew J. Swan

Behind every hope, every dream, and every success, stands a teacher.

These are not ordinary teachers, but ones who ignite enthusiasm and push their students to think deeper and reach farther to grasp their dreams and successes.

This month, NIU honors three of its best teachers – Terrence Bishop, Andrea Radasanu and Nancy LaCursia – for lighting the spark of motivation in their students. The trio is this year’s recipients of the awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

Bishop (Department of Management), Radasanu (Department of Political Science) and LaCursia (School of Nursing and Health Studies) each have garnered one of the university’s longest standing and prestigious honors.

“Teachers must constantly update the material they present to their students,” LaCursia said. “That’s one of the most important things I do as an educator and teach to my students. No one should be given outdated material.”

And, along with the NIU community, recipients can thank their students and colleagues who nominated them through letters filled with resounding praise.

“(Bishop) set high expectations for students to be involved both inside and outside of the classroom and incorporated real-life experiences during lectures so we had a greater understanding of how to apply the coursework in the business world,” Laura M. Clark wrote to the award nominating committee. “He empowered me to be a better student by encouraging me to take chances with leadership positions.”

Initiated in 1966, the award honors excellent undergraduate teaching at the university, encourages improvement of instruction and promotes discussion among members of the university community on the subject of teaching.

Nominees must be full-time faculty whose major responsibility is teaching and must have worked at least five full academic years at NIU.

Matthew Swan, an instructor in the Department of Communication, received this year’s Excellence in Undergraduate Instruction Award.

Click on the names below for closer looks at this year’s award winners: