Samford University geography professor Eric J. Fournier has been named the 2014 Alabama Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Fournier was recognized for his superb teaching skills at the U.S. Professors of the Year awards ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington on Nov. 20.
The U.S. Professors of the Year program salutes the most outstanding undergraduate instructors in the country — those who excel in teaching and positively influence the lives and careers of students.
A Samford faculty member since 1997, Fournier served as chair of the geography department for 12 years. He was recently named director of Samford’s Center for Teaching, Learning and Scholarship (CTLS), a position that will allow him to continue in his teaching role.
Fournier also has taught at the University of Georgia where he earned his Ph.D. degree and at Kennesaw State University in Georgia and Emmanuel College in Boston. A native of Biddeford, Maine, he received his undergraduate degree from Syracuse University in New York.
Fournier said his approaches to teaching have changed over the years.
“I have gradually given up on ‘covering’ the materials and tried to focus more on what students were actually learning,” he said.
During his Samford tenure Fournier has been recognized with awards from Samford’s Howard College of Arts and Sciences, the Southeastern Division of the Association of American Geographers and the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE). He is currently board chairman of NCGE.
Fournier also serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Geography in Higher Education and the Journal of Geography.
Samford provost J. Bradley Creed said, “[Fournier] is certainly deserving of this honor and Samford is fortunate to have such a gifted and committed colleague like [him] as a member of our community.”
(Samford)
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