President’s Awards

Two professors honored for teaching excellence

Dr. T. Mark Morey, a professor of psychology, and Dr. Harrison Yang, a professor of curriculum and instruction, are the 2006 recipients of the SUNY Oswego President’s Award for Teaching Excellence.

Morey (top left) is co-chair of the college’s Committee on Learning and Teaching, which has organized regional conferences, campus workshops, lecture series and awards programs to promote learning and teaching at SUNY Oswego.

“He constantly takes positive risks by trying new ideas or improvements on current techniques,” said Dr. William C. Bosch, director of the college’s Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, who nominated Morey for the award. “Mark is eager to read and discuss new research on learning and teaching.”

In the psychology department, he teaches courses specifically for freshmen and transfer students, introducing them to the discipline and integrating them into the college experience. “He strives to make Oswego State a ‘top notch’ educational experience for all students,” wrote transfer Julie E. Hogle, supporting his nomination for the award.

Morey has involved students in his research and co-authored paper and poster presentations with them, most recently at meetings of the Eastern Psychological Association and International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

A licensed psychologist in New York, Morey joined Oswego’s faculty in 1973 after receiving his doctorate in clinical psychology from De Paul University in Chicago.

Students rave about Yang’s classes in their evaluations each semester. The comments “great class,” “awesome,” “terrific” and “exceptional professor” appear repeatedly. More than once, Yang (bottom left) has received a unanimous top rating from all the students in a class.

Robert Keim, who completed his master’s degree at Oswego last year and teaches at Red Creek Central School, wrote in support of Yang’s nomination for the award. “He is a highly effective communicator, educator, and role model for his students,” Keim said. “His patience and understanding undoubtedly contributed to my success.”

Current graduate student Sarah E. McFadden wrote, “Dr. Yang is a phenomenal teacher . . . Just by interacting with Dr. Yang, one can tell that he loves his students, his job, and life in general. . . . His happiness inspires his students to do the best they can in his classes and to be as happy as he is in teaching.”

To illustrate his dedication, she wrote, “Dr. Yang told us the first day of class that he would stay as long as we needed him. ‘I’ll stay until 3 a.m. if you want, but I’ll have to call my wife,’ he said with a smile.”

Graduate courses Yang has developed at Oswego include “Applied Instructional Technology for Educators,” “Multimedia and Internet for Educators” and “Computer Applications and Resources in Teaching.”

Among the books he has co-authored are “Applied Educational Technology,” published in the United States and used in his teaching, and “Research of Computer in Education,” published in China.

Yang joined Oswego’s faculty in 1997 after receiving his doctorate in vocational-technical education from Florida International University.

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(Posted: May 22, 2006)