Cell Biology Graduate Program
Karin Westlund High named Mary and J. Palmer Saunders Professor for Excellence in Teaching
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UTMB President John D. Stobo hosted the second annual Founers Day and Faculty Awards Luncheon to recognize recent faculty appointments to endowed positions in the four schools at UTMB. Three graduate school faculty members were recognized along with the generous donors whose gifts to UTMB made the professorships possible.
Dr. and Mrs. J. Palmer Saunders were recognized for their generous support and commitment to graduate biomedical education by establishing a second professorship for the University of Texas Medical Branch Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. The Mary and J. Palmer Saunders Professorship for Excellence in Teaching was established in December 2001 with a $100,000 gift and is used to recognize excellence in teaching and mentoring of students and postdoctoral fellows. The Saunders Professorship for Excellence in Teaching is a one-year appointment. This annual rotation and selection of the professorship emphasizes the high esteem in which outstanding teachers and mentors are held by UTMB as a whole, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Dr. and Mrs. Saunders. The GSBS thanks Dr. and Mrs. Saunders for their on-going support of the school and commitment to cultivating the next generation of biomedical scientists.
The inaugural award of the Mary and J. Palmer Saunders Professorship for Excellence in Teaching was awarded to Karin N. Westlund High, Ph.D. Dr. High is an alumna of UTMB's Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, receiving her Ph.D. in 1981 from the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. She did her postdoctoral work at UTMB in the Anatomy Department and became an assistant professor in 1985. She currently is a professor in anatomy and neuroscience and a member of the Marine Biomedical Institute. She has mentored six graduate students and served on twelve dissertation committees. Dr. High was instrumental in the restructuring of the Basic Biomedical Sciences Curriculum in 1998, and has developed a new course, Academic Success Skills for Cell Biology Students that teaches essential scientific communication skills that are necessary for every successful student.
"I feel strongly that it is the responsibility of all faculty to pass on their acquired experience and expertise. It does take a village of caring mentors to skillfully train and education our students - their educational experience at UTMB can make a world of difference in their acquired abilities, and ultimately, their contributions to the academic family tree," Dr. High said.
One of High's students, Dr. Kathleen Sluka ('93, Anatomy), wrote of Dr. High, "She was always available for frequent discussions regarding the experimental design of the projects, and more importantly, the interpretation of the results. The time she made available for this was invaluable in my scientific thinking." Karin Westlund High is an exemplary approintee for the initial Saunders Professorship for Excellence in Teaching.
