UC Davis Professor Garners Global Recognition For 'Great Teaching Program'

DAVIS, CA -- James R. Carey, distinguished professor of entomology, University of California, Davis, is one of the award recipients in the 2018 Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching Program, a global prize given every two years by Baylor University, Waco, Texas, to a professor demonstrating academic excellence.
Carey, described as “a truly outstanding teacher,” was named a semifinalist and received a $1,000 honorarium. Approximately 100 applicants began the initial process.

“Dr. James Carey epitomizes the scholar-teacher,” said Cherry Award committee member Kevin Dougherty, associate professor of sociology. “He is a prodigious author with multiple books and hundreds of research articles. Millions of dollars in grants have funded his research. Yet, Dr. Carey has done more than produce knowledge. He is an innovative, international leader in interdisciplinary teaching and learning. He is an entomologist who teaches courses on aging, crime, and war to classes ranging in size from 20 to 200 plus. Over a thousand instructional videos also feature Dr. Carey. Dr. James Carey is the type of exemplary scholar-teacher for which Baylor University's Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching exists.”

The Cherry Award program is “designed to honor great teachers, to stimulate discussion in the academy about the value of teaching, and to encourage departments and institutions to value their own great teachers.” Nominees are from all over the English-speaking world.

The three finalists, to present a series of lectures in the fall of 2017, are Heidi G. Elmendorf, biology, Georgetown University; Neil K. Garg, chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles; and Clinton O. Longenecker, leadership, The University of Toledo. Each receives $15,000, and the home department, $10,000, to foster the development of teaching skills. The winning professor, to be announced in spring 2018, will thus receive a total of $265,000, and $35,000 for his or her home department.

Carey, who joined the UC Davis faculty in 1980, is nationally and internationally recognized for his innovative teaching program that centers on the strategic use of digital technology. He received the 2015 Distinguished Achievement in Teaching Award from the Entomological Society of America (ESA); the 2014 Distinguished Teaching Award from the Pacific Branch of ESA; and the UC Davis Academic Senate's 2014 Distinguished Teaching Award, an honor given to internationally recognized professors who excel at teaching.

By Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology