September 11, 2000

SMU BOARD CHAIR RUTH S. ALTSHULER FUNDS NEW FACULTY AWARDS

DALLAS (SMU) -- Dallas civic leader Ruth S. Altshuler is providing $250,000 to Southern Methodist University to establish a new distinguished teaching award program for tenured faculty. Her gift will fund four annual awards of $10,000 each for the next five years.

Altshuler made the announcement at the Sept. 8 meeting of the SMU Board of Trustees, the first meeting at which she presided as chair. Award recipients will be designated as Distinguished Teaching Faculty for a two-year period, during which time they will belong to a Teaching Academy. Working with SMU's Center for Teaching Excellence, members of the Teaching Academy will serve as mentors and take part in symposia and other activities promoting excellence in teaching.

"My goal in making this gift is to recognize professors whose innovation, imagination and inspiration have most benefited our students," Altshuler said. "I wanted to show how much we as Board of Trustee members appreciate the excellent work of our professors in the classroom. I wanted to start my term as Board chair by declaring this a time for faculty appreciation."

Eligibility for the awards will be determined by SMU's provost and vice president for academic affairs, in conjunction with the Center for Teaching Excellence and the donor. Next spring, nominations will be made by the Center's Commission on Teaching and Learning, composed of faculty and students. After this academic year, a special selection committee will be established that will include the first recipients of the Distinguished Teaching Faculty Awards. The awards will be bestowed at a banquet each spring.

"Many universities, including SMU, have teaching awards that provide faculty with a small, one-time bonus. What excites me about these new Distinguished Teaching Faculty Awards is that the winners will have two years to serve on the Teaching Academy that has long been the dream of our Center for Teaching Excellence," says Ross C Murfin, provost and vice president for academic affairs. "Through everything from symposia to brown bag luncheons, our awardees will serve as resources helping all of us to hone the craft of teaching."

The gift counts toward SMU's five-year major gifts drive, The Campaign for SMU: A Time to Lead, which seeks endowments for academic programs, scholarships, faculty positions and selected facilities. The University will seek a permanent endowment for the award program to extend it beyond the first five years.

"This generous gift supports the highest priority of The Campaign for SMU -- gaining resources to strengthen academic life," said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. "It will help SMU to uphold its tradition of strong teaching and provide role models as we attract new faculty to SMU. This gift is typical of Ruth Altshuler's philanthropy in that it establishes a unique program and supports the heart of the academic enterprise."

A member of SMU's Board of Trustees for more than 30 years, Ruth Altshuler is a longtime benefactor of the University. In total, she and her husband, Dr. Kenneth Z. Altshuler, and their family foundations have contributed more than $10 million to SMU, including an endowment for the Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center (A-LEC) and support for the SMU Annual Fund, Meadows School of the Arts, President's Scholars Program, Clements Department of History and the Paul B. Loyd Jr. All-Sports Center, which houses the A-LEC. Ken Altshuler is chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.