West Virginia University history professor Jack L. Hammersmith has been honored by the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences as the 2007 Eberly Family Professor for Outstanding Public Service.

I am very honored to receive this award, especially given the tremendous service commitments of so many of the faculty in the Eberly College,Hammersmith said.For all of us, I know, service reflects one very important component of our faculty profiles and a way we can reinvest what we do to make WVU , our community, state and world better places in which to live.

A member of WVU s Department of History since 1968, Hammersmith has compiled a lengthy service record, ranging from his work at the University to efforts at the state and national levels.

The WVU professors most sustained and substantive service has been his role in The West Virginia Consortium for Faculty and Course Development in International Studies (FACDIS), a consortium of 20 West Virginia institutions of higher education with over 375 participating faculty in international studies and foreign languages from more than 15 disciplines. The aim of FACDIS is to improve the teaching of international subjects within all institutions of the state, including both secondary and higher education.

Since becoming director of FACDIS in 2001, Hammersmith has seen the organization win national, regional and state honors.

His statewide service has also included membership on boards appointed by the governor and sponsored by the Higher Education Policy Commission to enhance international education.

Whether involved in planning and administering our annual FACDIS workshops or our scholar-diplomat seminars in Washington, D.C. each spring, I find myself constantly broadening both my knowledge base and enriching my ideas of how better to stimulate student interest and learning,Hammersmith said.

Student life and teaching have likewise been focal points for much of Hammersmiths service, including years of participation in WVU Days, the teaching of the televisedBridging the Gaphistory courses, serving as faculty advisor for more than a dozen years to Helvetia, the Universitys sophomore honorary, and contributing to a wide range of scholarship, international and institutional committees at WVU .

Currently, Hammersmiths scholarly work includes writing a biography of James Morton Callahan, a pioneer in the diplomatic history of the United States and one of the long-time contributors to the historical profession at large and to WVU , where Callahan taught for many years.

For more information, contact the Eberly College at 304-293-4611.