BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University’s Jonathan Dey, professor of biology and the Miner Linnaeus Sherff Professor of Botany, was named as the 2009 winner of The Pantagraph Award for Teaching Excellence at the University on Wednesday, April 16, at the annual Honors Convocation in Westbrook Auditorium of Presser Hall.
Listen to the award announcement or the Convocation address (mp3 files).
The $1,000 teacher-scholar award is the University’s top teaching honor and is sponsored by the daily newspaper headquartered in Bloomington that services eight counties and more than 60 communities in Central Illinois. The honoree is selected by Illinois Wesleyan’s Promotion and Tenure Committee based on nominations received from members of the faculty.
Dey has traveled the country in his studies of botany, and has discovered, described and named several lichens through his research. A graduate of Oregon State and Duke universities, his doctoral research centered on lichens of high mountain areas of the Southern Appalachians in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Beginning his career as a secondary school teacher in Nigeria with the Peace Corps, Dey came to Illinois Wesleyan in 1974. Known on campus for his dedication to his students, he has lead them into fieldwork for decades. “He embodies the spirit of John Wesley Powell, that is his apparent beliefs that work in the field is vital for students to learn about the natural world,” said Provost Beth Cunningham, comparing Dey to the famed explorer and former Illinois Wesleyan professor, who was the first to lead students on field trips in the 1800s. “Dr. Dey has taken students to places such as the Alleghenies upland area of West Virginia and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee nearly every summer, where students have the opportunity to work side-by-side with him.” She added he is known as a mentor to both students and fellow faculty members.