Central Virginia Community College
Dr. Timothy Rhoads Receives Outstanding Faculty Award
Lynchburg, VA /Media Release/ -- Central Virginia Community College announces that Dr. Timothy L. Rhoads has received the Outstanding Faculty Award for 2009. The award recognizes a current faculty member each year for exceptional abilities and efforts as a member of the teaching community at CVCC.
Rhoads has been a professor of biology at the College for the past five years and was promoted to full professor in the fall of 2007. He holds a B.S. in microbiology from Auburn University, an M.S. in biology from the University of Alabama, and his Ph.D. in biology from the University of Mississippi. He has brought both teaching and research experience to his CVCC position, having previously served as an associate professor at South George College and, prior to that, a research microbiologist with Baxter Health Care Corporation and a lead microbiologist at the University of Alabama’s Johnson Research Center.
As a teacher, Rhoads has been nominated five times for Who’s Who Among America’s College Teachers. He was a 2001 Georgia Governor’s Teaching Fellow and received the USG Regents Teaching Excellence Award, the highest honor for faculty at Georgia’s public colleges and universities. He has received many grants and awards over the years and is the author of numerous publications and manuscripts.
From his earliest experience at Auburn, Rhoads understood he loved the field of microbiology. What he didn’t realize, at that time, was how much he would love teaching. While he was working on his Ph.D. at the University of Mississippi, Rhoads discovered the satisfaction and the sheer fun of teaching students.
In 2004, Rhoads and his wife came to Lynchburg. They chose the area for the four-season climate, the location and the great people he met while interviewing for the College. He has been pleased with his CVCC teaching experience. “I’ll enjoy teaching as long as I have students who want to learn,” reports Rhoads. He finds many of his CVCC students are eager to learn, and their interest in the subject area spills outside the classroom. Students will send him enthusiastic emails to report science news they read or see on television and often will be so involved in class discussion they express surprise that the hour has ended.
Devoted to his students, Rhoads’ interest in them continues in the wider CVCC community. He is Faculty Advisor to the Student Honor Council, an annual reviewer for microbiology Science Fair projects and an annual Science Fair judge. He serves on a number of committees at CVCC, involving enrollment and recruitment, and on the VCCS State Appeals Committee.
He knows, from his own experience, “who you are is where you’ve been—from there, you find your way.” He knows this will be true for his students. CVCC honors him with their outstanding faculty award for his dynamic teaching, profound dedication, and for helping his students have the type of learning experiences that will help them each find their own way in the world.
Release Date: 2:00 PM (EST) 6/07/09
Release Number: 090606.awardtimrhoads
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Media Contact:
Kathy Cudlin
Coordinator, Public Relations and Marketing
Central Virginia Community College
(434) 832-7609
Copyright © 2009 Central Virginia Community College. All Rights Reserved.
A Member Institution of the Virginia Community College System.