BMCC Honors Winners and Nominees for Distinguished Teaching Awards

The first BMCC Distinguished Teaching Awards were presented at a reception on Thursday, May 19 in the Shirley Fiterman Art Center. The awardees were Nicholas R. Marino, Adjunct Lecturer, English; Chamutal Noimann, Assistant Professor, English, and John Beaumont, Associate Professor, Academic Literacy and Linguistics.

BMCC President Antonio Pérez and Provost and Senior Vice President Karrin E. Wilks welcomed the audience and presented the awards.

“The faculty on the selection committee said it was the most difficult committee they had ever sat on. The heart and soul of what it means to be a good teacher, was evident in the applications we read,” said Provost Wilks.

“We’re here to honor both full-time and part-time faculty,” said President Pérez. “I can’t say enough, how proud I am. I’m very impressed by the magnitude of what happens in this institution, and in our classrooms.”

Three awardees

Nicholas R. Marino, an Adjunct Lecturer in the BMCC English Department, is now completing a doctoral dissertation, “Radical Abandonment: Emerson’s Age of ‘Aesthetic Relinquishment’,” at the CUNY Graduate Center. Marino joined the BMCC faculty in 2006 and teaches Intensive Writing, Composition, Introduction to Literature, and World Literature II at the College. He earned a B.A. in English at Binghamton University, SUNY; an M.A. in English at City College, CUNY, and a Master of Philosophy at the CUNY Graduate Center. Professor Marino’s areas of expertise include 19^th-century American literature, environmental humanities, transnational romanticism and Anglo-American modernisms. Among his recent accomplishments are having received the CUNY Graduate Center’s 25^thAnniversary Fund Dissertation Fellowship for the 2016-17 Academic Year. From 2001 to 2004, he studied Japanese language and culture, especially haiku and renku poetry, in Nagano Prefecture, Japan.Associate Professor 

Assistant Professor of English Chamutal Noimann teaches Intensive Writing, Introduction to Literature, Children’s Literature and British Literature II, having joined the BMCC faculty in 2009. She is currently working to create a new Children & Youth Studies Associate of Art degree program at BMCC. Noimann earned a B.A. with a double major, English Literature and Special Honors Curriculum, at Hunter College, CUNY. She completed a Ph.D. in English, with a focus on Victorian literature, children’s literature, and romanticism, at The Graduate Center, CUNY. Her areas of expertise include children’s and young adult literature, writing across the curriculum, Victorian literature, games in education, European literature and film. Her recent awards include a PSC-CUNY 44 Research Award for the research project, Steampunk Kim: The Victorian Cosmopolitan Child in Phillip Reeve’s Larklight; a CUNY Graduate Center University Fellowship, and the Hannah Beiter Student Research Grant from the Children’s Literature Association.

John Beaumont is Director of the BMCC Teaching Academy and ESL Co-Coordinator of the Academic Literacy and Linguistics Department. He teaches ESL, Linguistics, and Critical Thinking at BMCC, having joined the college in 2008. Beaumont earned a B.A. in English at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts and an M.A. and Ed.M. in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), as well as an Ed.D. in TESOL from Teachers College, Columbia University. His areas of expertise are Teacher Observation and Professional Development, Classroom Materials Development and Second Language Writing. Recent honors include having won the Diana Hacker Award, and a Faculty Development Grant to focus on formative peer observation.

A commitment to student success

“Promoting, recognizing and celebrating outstanding teaching is one of our highest priorities and central to our commitment to student success,” said Karrin E. Wilks, BMCC Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs. “It was very inspiring and moving to read the applications, both the teaching statements by nominees and testimonials from students. We are proud to be honoring all the nominees and awardees.”

The award recognizes faculty whose sustained excellence in teaching incites intellectual curiosity in students, inspires colleagues both within and outside his or her department, and demonstrates effective and innovative pedagogy with clear evidence of student learning gains.  

“All of the candidates for the Distinguished Teaching Award were nominated by students and/or peers. They are truly inspiring examples that we can all look up to and be proud of,” said Jim Berg, BMCC Associate Dean of Faculty.

Finalists also honored

The finalists for the BMCC Distinguished Teaching Award include:

Thierry Agbotouedo, Lecturer, Mathematics;

Catherine Cammilleri, Lecturer, English;

Robin Enrico, Adjunct Professor, Music and Art;

Joel Evans, Lecturer, Business Administration;

Helen Huff, Professor, Speech, Communications and Theatre Art;

Lalitha Jayant, Associate Professor, Science;

Jacob Kramer, Associate Professor, Social Sciences;

Ting Lei, Professor, Social Sciences;

Ellen Lewis, Adjunct Lecturer, English;

Shanti Lowe, Adjunct Assistant Professor; Social Sciences;

Roselie McNair, Adjunct Professor, Academic Literacy and Linguistics;

Yolanda Medina, Associate Professor, Teacher Education;

Margaret Clarie Pamplin, Associate Professor, English;

Sandra Sollod Poster, Professor, Speech, Communications and Theatre Arts;

Aimee Record, Lecturer, English;

Lesley Rennis, Associate Professor, Health Education;

Gary Richards, Adjunct, English;

Marguerite Rivas, Associate Professor, English;

Anna Salvati, Assistant Professor, Computer Information Systems;

Abdramane Serme, Professor, Mathematics;

Manya Steinkoler, Assistant Professor, English;

Valerie Thiers-Thiam, Associate Professor, Modern Languages;

Julie M. Vega, F/T Substitute, English;

Zhanna Yablokova, Associate Professor, English;

Eugenia Oi Yan Yau, Professor, Music and Art.