Each year, the College of Fine Arts recognizes and celebrates the remarkable achievements of our dedicated and talented faculty. Our excellent scholars, artists, and technicians provide high-impact, hands-on guidance and training to our students. Here we showcase our faculty’s most recent innovative and entrepreneurial achievements in creative and scholarly work. Past winners are listed in the links to the right.
Outstanding Teaching Award
One faculty member from the entire college is recognized with the Outstanding Teaching Award each year. The winner receives supplemental funding for professional development and a commemorative lamp. He or she also serves as the college’s commencement speaker the following year.
2016 Winner: Mihoko Watanabe, Associate Professor of Flute
Associate Professor of Flute Mihoko Watanabe is the 2016 Outstanding Teaching Award winner. She is a celebrated and versatile international performer and an enthusiastic teacher who travels widely as a clinician, presenting master classes throughout the United States, Canada, and Japan. She has adjudicated at international music festivals and competitions, served on the faculty of the Brevard Music Center, and was recently featured in “Flute Talk” magazine.
Outstanding Creative Endeavor Awards
One faculty member from each unit is recognized with an Outstanding Creative Endeavor Award. These winners receive supplemental funding for professional or creative development.
2016 School of Art Winner: John Ludwick, Assistant Professor of Art
Assistant Professor of Art John Ludwick is a 2016 Outstanding Creative Endeavor Award winner. His original animated film, “Claire and the Keys,” earned three Academy-accredited international juried film festivals and won over 16 awards, including the Berlin Independent Film Festival’s Best Animated Short, the Gold Spotlight Short Film Award, and two honors from the Charleston International Film Festival: an Audience Choice Award and Best Animated Short.
2016 School of Music Winner: Matthew Lyon, Associate Professor of Tuba
Associate Professor of Tuba and Euphonium Matthew Lyon is a 2016 Outstanding Creative Endeavor Award winner.
2016 Department of Theatre and Dance Winner: Eva Patton, Associate Professor of Acting
Associate Professor of Acting Eva Patton is a 2016 Outstanding Creative Endeavor Award winner. She has appeared in productions both regionally and in New York City as well as in notable audiobook recordings. Her most recent play, “Clearing the Mind,” earned a reading at the Mid-America Theatre Conference and the Midtown International Theatre Festival in New York. She also won both the Distinguished Director of a New or Devised Work and the Distinguished Director of a Musical awards from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.