Outstanding Faculty Member Receives 2013 Gould Award for Excellence in Teaching
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Anthony Twyman
July 24, 2013 Assistant to the President for Communications
610-325-2816
atwyman1@dccc.edu
(Delaware and Chester Counties, PA)— Delaware County Community College’s Educational Foundation recently awarded the Gould award for teaching excellence to faculty member Stephen Smith Jr., the College’s theatre director, assistant professor of Communications, Arts and Humanities, and instructor in the College’s Academy for College Excellence (ACE) program.
Each year, the recipient of the coveted Gould Award remains a secret until Commencement day. The award is presented to a faculty member whose dedication, achievement and love for teaching inspire both students and colleagues. The award was established by the late Jerry Gould, a founding trustee, whose commitment to community and service helped make the College a reality. Jerry created the award out of her belief that an outstanding faculty is at the heart of education and the College.
Students are the nominators for the award. This year, one student nominator described Smith as “very dedicated to his class,” and said “he loves what he does and one can tell he enjoys teaching.” Another student said Smith’s teaching “makes me jump out of bed every Tuesday and Thursday morning, go on the (Bus) Route 115’s hour-long ride and know that what I am being taught is going to matter to me and my education.”
Smith is no stranger to the spotlight. He is a professional actor and director in Philadelphia and has performed in regional theatres throughout the country. In 2005, he received two coveted Greater Philadelphia Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Ensemble and Outstanding Choreography for his direction of “Tuesday,” a wordless, movement-based play cast with both hearing and deaf actors.
“Tuesday” was produced by the Philadelphia-based Amaryllis Theatre, a company founded by Smith’s parents that features works that bring actors and audience members, with and without disabilities, together.
Smith has a Master of Arts in Theatre from Villanova University and a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Delaware’s Professional Theatre Training Program.
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