Banerjee Named Columbus State’s 2012 Educator of the Year
COLUMBUS, Ga. — Longtime professor Anil Banerjee Friday was named Columbus State University’s 2012 Educator of the Year.
Banerjee, an associate professor of chemistry, received the award during Friday afternoon’s 2012 Scholastic Honors Convocation on Columbus State’s main campus. Other top faculty honorees were English professors Pat McHenry for faculty service and Joseph Francavilla for research and
. The Faculty Cup, recognizing CSU’s top student for 2011-2012, went to chemistry major Claire EunHye Cho.
Banerjee, who came to CSU in 2005, has taught for nearly two decades, both in the U.S. and his native India. He’s been awarded more than $100,000 in grants from the University System of Georgia to offer workshops for middle school and high school chemistry and science teachers in Muscogee, Harris and Troup counties. In these workshops, he shares his method of inquiry-based instruction – having students learn by taking action and then asking questions, guided by teachers. He's twice previously been an Educator of the Year finalist, in 2008 and 2011.

McHenry, also associate dean of the College of Letters and Sciences, joined Columbus State as an assistant professor of English in 1996. He’s also served as associate dean, interim dean and acting dean of the former College of Arts and Letters. He has served as chair of two departments on an interim basis: Art, in 2004-2005, and Mathematics and Philosophy in 2011-2012. Among his many committee assignments, McHenry serves as chair of the University Curriculum Committee, which reviews proposals for new courses. Since 2005, he has participated in several study abroad programs in Italy and the United Kingdom.
Francavilla, professor of English, has been teaching film and literature at Columbus State since 1987. He’s a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America and the Science Fiction Research Association. In 1990 and 1991, he oversaw publication of the university literary journal, The Spectrum, the forerunner of Arden, CSU’s current literary journal. His poems and stories have appeared regularly in Arden since its first issue in 2000.
The top student honoree, Claire Eunhye Cho, is a senior chemistry major who has not only participated in a study abroad course on Andros Island in the Bahamas, but has also performed summer research at Columbia University and the University of New Hampshire. She’s a member of Phi Kappa Phi, the American Chemical Society honor society; Beta Beta Beta, the national honor society for biology; and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. She has received Outstanding Awards from the Department of Chemistry and Phi Kappa Phi. She has also assisted with rebuilding work in New Orleans and as a hospital volunteer in Brazil.
Other top student honors, the Academic Recognition and Phi Kappa Phi Senior awards, went to communication major Hayley Henderson and theatre major Melora Slotnick,, respectively.
Recognized as new faculty emeritus designees are retired or retiring professors Dean Beverly Davis (University College), Ronald Kettering (business) and Thomas Loughman (business).
The convocation also recognized students for outstanding research and creative projects, plus graduating Honors Program scholars Neena Alex, Will Borin, Zachary Bryant, Claire EunHye Cho, Mark Davis, Cecilia Felix, Lindsay Grant and Melora Slotnick.
The following awards recognize top students in their respective academic programs:
College of the Arts
Studio Arts: Nica Mendoza
Art Education, B.S.Ed: Caroline Trotter
Art Education, M.Ed: Inge Morrison
Communication: Shane Hancock
Music: Zachary Bryant
Music-Presser Scholar: Bogdan Dumitriu
Theatre Arts Award: Hannah Carey
Theatre Arts Education Award: Melora Slotnick
Theatre Arts Design/Technical: Matthew Swindell
Theatre Arts Performance: Stephanie Earle, Heather Pavik (tie)
Turner College of Business and Computer Science
Accounting: Ryan Collins
Finance: Filip Cojbasic
Management: Kenneth Hammonds
Marketing: Haley Lyman
General Business: Philip Harike
Management Information Systems: Casie Jordan
Master of Business Administration: Joel Holcombe
Master of Science in Organizational Leadership: Kelli Parker
Computer Science: Jesse Cape
Applied Computer Science Undergraduate: Jeremias Duarte
Games Computer Science: Janice Hill
Information Technology: Courtney Tillery
Applied Computer Science Graduate Award: Mary House
College of Education and Health Professions
School Counseling, M. Ed.: Laura Carr
School Counseling, Ed.S.: Denea James
Community Counseling, M.S.: Courtney Loving
Educational Leadership, M.Ed.: Amanda Wile
Educational Leadership, Ed.S.: Jared Worthy
Curriculum & Leadership, Ed.D.: Ruth Bennett
Early Childhood Education Undergraduate: Amanda Hernandez
Early Childhood Education Graduate: Patricia Brooks
English Education Undergraduate: Alia Spradlin
English Education Graduate: Mary Brugh
Mathematics Education Undergraduate: Joshua Alsup
Mathematics Education Graduate: Cristopher Houston
Middle Grades Education Undergraduate: Shannon Tosi
Middle Grades Education Graduate: Draveious Hurston-White
Science Education Graduate: Jaimie Gonzalez
Spanish Education: Nabila Ivaldi
Social Science Education Undergraduate: Rafael Torres
Social Science Education Graduate: Earl Barnett
Special Education Undergraduate: Dalecia Williams
Special Education Graduate: Sarah McFadden
Health & Physical Education Undergraduate: Rochelle Hemmer
Health & Physical Education Graduate: Lindsey Sharpe
Exercise Science: Peter Blickhahn
Health Science: Madeline Meadows
Nursing BSN: Breanna Miller
Nursing RN-BSN: Ashley Kennedy
College of Letters and Sciences
Criminal Justice: Tara Santoro
Sociology: Sheila Downs
English Literature: Jonathan Sanders
English Professional Writing: Ausu Mayo
English Creative Writing: Robin Shuler
Spanish: Aldo Mendoza
French: Kevin White
History: Stanley Hayes
Political Science : Timothy Bussey
Political Science – Mion Scholar: Madeliene Moore
Public Administration: Scott Balough
George Stanton Biology Award: Neena Alex
Ecological & Evolutionary Biology: Scott Whitley
Cellular/Molecular Biology: Hemalata Mandiga
Organismic Biology: Shannon Tyler
Biology Education: Carrie Ann Sharitt
Principles of Chemistry: Angelin Shajan
Chemistry Major: Michael Anderson
Excellence in Research: Claire EunHye Cho
Geology: Donald Osborne
Physics: Zachary Edwards
Engineering: Marie Harber
Environmental Science: Alicia Garcia
Mathematics: Alan Hetzel
Philosophy: Nathan White
Psychology: Ashley Shipp
Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges
Melanie Alexander
Chelsea Allen
Moniquia Alleyne
Sierra Anderson
Alicia Bailey
Chelsea Baker
Scott Balough
Latorria Brown
Michayala Bush
Tatum Butterfield
Yu-Ting Chen
John Dockter
Melissa Drawdy
Tracy Farley
Latoya Feliciano
Christopher Freeman
Rebecca Gaston
Liberty Gibson
Amber Gonzalez
Michael Green
Amanda Hannaburg
Adrienne Hart
Melanie Hart
Hayley Henderson
Bolivia Hurtado De Mendoza
Sierra Johnson
Candice Lawrence
Angelica Lewis
Benjamin Long
Lauren Love
Mary Lyons
Carla Martin
Madeliene Moore
Christopher Mulch
Kristan Mumpower
Cynlenthia Muniz
Amy Nerone
Laterika Peak
Gary Phillips
Mark Plagge
Shoko Porter
Ebony Ramey
Sheronda Richey
Jenise Santos
Tammie Marie Short
Regina Steed
Matthew Swindell
Etsubdenke Templier
Stephanie Thomas
Hannah Vongsavang
Lorrie White
Kelsey Williams
Avery Wolff
Amanda Woodruff
Sydney Worthy
Caleb Zuiderveen
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Photos, from top:
Anil Banerjee, CSU’s 2012 Educator of the Year, works in a laboratory earlier this year. He missed Friday’s Scholastic Honors Convocation due to a family emergency.
Pat McHenry, Faculty Service Award recipient
Joseph Francavilla, Faculty Research and Scholarship Award recipient
Claire EunHye Cho, Faculty Cup recipient (top student honoree)
Media: High-resolution originals of Banerjee, McHenry, Francavilla, Cho