This year, the association’s selection committee gave the OCTA to Viola L. Acoff, head of the department of metallurgical and materials engineering, Robert Brooks, professor of finance and Wallace D. Malone, Jr. endowed chair of financial management, Kathryn S. Oths, professor of anthropology and James Hall, former professor and director in New College.
Robin Elmore, from the Alumni Office, said the nine-member selection committee is made up of two alumni, two faculty and three students. The committee selects faculty members based on their commitment to teaching and the impact they have on students through the teaching and learning process.
The National Alumni Association has been presenting the award since 1976 and it is open to all full-time faculty members.
“I think it’s one of the best awards we give on campus,” Elmore said. “Recipients get a plaque and a cash stipend.”
Though some of the recipients of this award have left The University of Alabama, some of the winners, such as Brooks and Oths, still remain on campus.
Brooks said he was surprised and honored to receive this award.
“My area, financial engineering, is a fascinating career and many of my students have gone on to have fulfilling careers,” he said. “It is an honor, and after receiving this award, I feel challenged to continue improving my classroom performance.”
Brooks said his aim in the classroom is to provide a learning environment that will help students succeed later in life.
“My goal is to have the appropriate content in my classes so that my students will flourish in their chosen profession,” he said.
Oths said she was shocked to be chosen to receive the award out of all of the faculty on campus.
“I don’t really feel outstanding in any way. There are so many good teachers here,” Oths said.
Oths said she is grateful to other faculty members in the anthropology department for showing her how to succeed as a professor at the University.
“An award winner always stands on the shoulders of accomplished, nurturing others,” she said.
Oths said she believes her careful attention to teaching students how to write well is a factor that likely contributed to her receiving this award.
“Some of them apparently hold me in enough regard to compose stellar letters on my behalf, so I guess those endless red ink pens I’ve emptied on their papers has paid off,” she said.
After receiving the award, both Brooks and Oths said they were grateful to the faculty, staff and students on campus and are just as committed to teaching as ever.
“Teaching never gets boring. And the interaction with all the fine people who surround me – colleagues, administrators, staff, and students – brings joy to my life,” Oths said. “There has never been a day that I dreaded coming to campus, and I’m never ready to leave the office.”
