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ASU Parents Association honors Nelson as Professor of the Year

Margaret “Peggy” Nelson, a well-respected anthropology professor who also became associate dean of the Barrett Honors College a year ago, has collected one of ASU’s top honors by being named the 2005 Professor of the Year by the ASU Parents Association.

It was a surprise announcement for the dedicated professor who has become known for her passion and her commitment to students since coming to ASU in 1995. Nelson, who was nominated by her students and several of her peers, inspires, encourages and motivates her students, and she takes their success to heart.

“For a professor to invest herself in a student’s success to the extent that Dr. Nelson does for her students is a humbling experience,” says Khanrat Piensook, a molecular biotechnology student. “She inspires me to work hard to live up to her expectations.”

Nelson will receive a $10,000 cash award and also $10,000 over the next academic year for a student assistant. The Parents Association Professorship is a lifetime title. The association also honored 29 other outstanding faculty nominees at a Celebration of Teaching and Learning Excellence sponsored by TIAA CREF April 21.

“She is a proud and passionate professor who loves helping students develop,” says former student Michael Makarem of Nelson. “I came to ASU as a culture-shocked 16-year-old from Nigeria, and 10 years later I am an attorney handling high-profile cases in Los Angeles. The nexus between the two is Dr. Margaret Nelson.

“I often tell people that the definitive day in my academic career, and life, was when I signed up for anthropology, by mistake. From the moment I entered her class, I was inspired. She embodied excellence and demanded my attention, and I learned to take the same pride in preparing for the course as she did in teaching it,” Makarem says.

Makarem entered law school on her suggestion. He said he is “forever grateful to her for not only shaping my education, but also for propelling me into my life’s calling.”

That same interest and concern for students is mirrored in other comments by nominees – the times when she offered to look over a paper, write a letter of recommendation, help them find work or research projects, and assist them in preparing for graduate school.

She also is known for teaching students to think critically, to make connections between disciplines, and to become involved in undergraduate research. Each year Nelson takes a group of students to the largest science meeting in the United States, the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference.

She helped develop the Community of Undergraduate Research Scholars, a partnership between the Barrett Honors College and the Center for Environmental Studies, and also created a teaching internship program in anthropology.

“Peggy Nelson is a supremely gifted, dedicated teacher and mentor who embodies the spirit of leading compassionately by example,” says Sander van der Leeuw, anthropology department chair. “She has a rare openness of spirit and willingness to involve herself in new areas of research and teaching, and her mentoring has had a broad impact.”

“Peggy Nelson has become one of the first examples, and a brilliant one, of the kinds of educators and scientists that the new ASU is committed to foster and attract,” says Mark Jacobs, dean of the Barrett Honors College.

Also receiving special recognition at the event and a $1,000 stipend were Richard Dagger, political science; Ronald Dorn, geography, José Náñez, social and behavioral science; Ron Rutowski, biology; and Rose Weitz, sociology and women’s studies. Thirty professors were nominated for the award.

By Sarah Auffret. Auffret with Marketing & Strategic Communications, can be reached at (480) 965-6991 or (sauffret@asu.edu).