National Honors for Top Professor in New Jersey
Mahwah – The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) have named Dr. Thomas J. Heed, associate professor of history at Ramapo College of New Jersey, the 2002 New Jersey Professor of the Year. Heed is a resident of Cornwall and Amagansett, both in New York.
According to Dr. Donna Crawley, who was acting vice president for academic affairs at the time she nominated Heed, “he exemplifies the best qualities of the professorate.” She goes on to say,
Dr. Heed is completely dedicated to his students, to raising their levels of understanding and achievement, and to the constant development of his own teaching skills. Although he is a senior faculty member and has been teaching at Ramapo College for 30 years, he engages in active, ongoing renewal and revision of his pedagogy and the content of his courses. Dr. Heed has created a collaborative program with the director of the Writing Center and the coordinator of information literacy in the library. His students will work on their written term projects this semester through a process that involves an individual conference with Dr. Heed on topic and approach, an individual conference with the librarian to formulate a research design and then a conference with the writing director to review their first drafts. We are excited to see the results of this coordinated effort to enhance student research and writing.
Dr. Heed uses multimedia/technology to enhance student learning in very creative ways. He has built a Web “world” for his students – so that they can see, hear, research and experience the periods and places of American history that he teaches. He brings other parts of the globe to his students at Ramapo College and he takes Ramapo to students in other countries, most notably Russia. Working with a professor at the Volgograd State Pedagogical University in Russia, Dr. Heed has obtained grant funding (currently from the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs) to engage in joint ventures in American Studies with the faculty and students in Volgograd. This project involves Russian scholars coming to be faculty in residence at Ramapo College and Ramapo faculty going to Russia. In addition, students in selected courses at each institution coordinate their studies and work with each other, fostering an understanding of multiple perspectives on current history.
CASE established the Professors of the Year program in 1981 and works in cooperation with the Carnegie Foundation and various higher education associations in its administration.
This year there are winners in 45 states 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 the four national winners and state winners. Each was selected from 422 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 non-profit research activities are produced by a small group of distinguished scholars.
CASE is the largest international association of educational institutions, with more than 3,000 colleges, universities, and independent elementary and secondary schools in 49 countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Representing these institutions are more than 38,000 professionals in the disciplines of alumni relations, communications and fund raising. Additional affiliates include educationally related nonprofit organizations and commercial firms.
