Five West Virginia University professors, whose teaching, research and service efforts create an atmosphere of excitement about learning, have received the 2008 WVU Foundation Outstanding Teacher Awards.

They are Cynthia S. Chalupa , associate professor of foreign languages, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences; Wade W. Huebsch , associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, College of Engineering and Mineral Resources; John M. Kuhlman , professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, College of Engineering and Mineral Resources; Robert M. Maxon , professor of history, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences; and Kari E. Sand-Jecklin , associate professor of health promotion/risk reduction, School of Nursing.

Cynthia S. Chalupa

Chalupa became fascinated with the German culture and language as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. As an English and pre-med major, German fulfilled her language requirement. She subsequently completed double majors in English and German.

Chalupa completed her masters and doctoral degrees in Germanic languages and literatures at The Ohio State University. While there, she took a wide array of courses in Germanic languages and literature from the Middle Ages to the present. She was also assistant director of Ohio States Foreign Language Center, where she coordinated articulation and assessment activities between state high school and college language programs, thus gaining valuable experience with current pedagogical practices.

Chalupa joined the WVU German faculty in 2001 and is director of the Basic German Language Program, which allows her to combine her interest in pedagogy with German literature and culture.

Wade W. Huebsch

Huebsch joined the WVU faculty in 2001. He teaches fluid mechanics and computational fluid dynamics, and has also taught courses in experimental aerodynamics and aircraft design.

Huebsch has a bachelors degree in aerospace engineering from San Jose State University and two graduate degrees from Iowa State University. He has received several College of Engineering and Mineral Resources awards, including Young Researcher of the Year (2003), the Outstanding Teacher Award (2003, 2006) and Student Organization Advisor of the Year (2007). He also received the 2005 Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award from the National Society of Automotive Engineering.

Huebsch is co-author of two books, and he has published journal articles in the areas of roughness effects on aerodynamics, aircraft icing, aerodynamic flow control and wing morphing.

John M. Kuhlman

Kuhlman joined the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at WVU in 1985 after 11 years on the faculty at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. He has bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees from Case Western Reserve University.

At WVU , he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, thermodynamics and heat transfer to students in both aerospace and mechanical engineering. Kuhlman has been recognized for outstanding teaching 11 times previously at WVU at the department or college levels, and he received the WVU Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching previously in 2000.

He serves as the faculty adviser to Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the national mechanical engineering professional society. In 1995, he received the national Tau Beta Pi Outstanding Advisor award. He also serves as an undergraduate advisor to Mechanical Engineering students.

His research is in spray cooling for high-heat flux applications, and he guides graduate students in their thesis research.

Robert M. Maxon

After earning his undergraduate degree in history from Duke University, Maxon taught in high schools in Kenya for three years. His doctoral study at Syracuse University led him to pursue a teaching career in the then-emerging field of African history.

During his field work for the dissertation, he was hired by WVU in 1969. For 12 of his nearly 40 years at WVU , he has served as department chair.

Maxon was the first African specialist in the WVU Department of History. As a result, he developed courses in African and East African history. He initiated the graduate program in African history, which has produced a number of specialists in the East African field, thus bringing international recognition to his program. Most of these students have focused their research on the history of Kenya. This parallels his research interests, which have resulted in the publication of 10 books and 35 chapters and articles in books and scholarly journals.

Kari E. Sand-Jecklin

Sand-Jecklin has degrees from Illinois Wesleyan University (bachelors in nursing), the University of Illinois, Chicago (masters in adult health nursing) and WVU (Ed.D. in educational psychology).

She held a variety of positions in health care prior to her full-time faculty appointment in the WVU School of Nursing in 1998.

Sand-Jecklin was selected for the initial Teaching Scholar Program at the WVU Health Sciences Center in 2001 and was recognized with School of Nursing Innovative Teaching awards in 2001 and 2005.

Many of her scholarly endeavors relate to educational concepts. She received a WVU provosts grant for implementing active/cooperative learning in large classrooms. She developed a tool to measure nursing student perceptions of the clinical education environment, and publication of this research has resulted in use of the tool in the U.S. and internationally.