Jan Norrander and Abby Conover receive collegiate awards for their outstanding contributions to undergraduate education.
John S. Anderson Leadership Award: Abby Conover
Stanley Dagley-Samuel Kirkwood Undergraduate Education Award: Jan Norrander
Jan Norrander is a teaching assistant professor in the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development. The Stanley Dagley-Samuel Kirkwood Undergraduate Award goes to a faculty member who has made exceptional contributions to undergraduate education. Norrander is known for innovation in the classroom, and she has developed and revamped several undergraduate courses to better serve CBS students. From the nomination:
"Dr. Jan Norrander has been an outstanding contributor to undergraduate and undergraduate medical education for nearly two decades. ... Her courses are so successful that we have asked her to assist other faculty in developing online versions of other CBS classes to meet growing student demand, and she has enthusiastically agreed. In spite of her accomplishments, Jan is exceptionally modest and never toots her own horn. Only those of us who have had the chance to work closely with her have a real understanding of all that she does for GCD, CBS, and the Medical School."
Abby Conover received the John S. Anderson Leadership Award, given to a staff or faculty member in the College who exemplifies the characteristics of professor emeritus John S. Anderson — fairness, integrity, honesty, forthrightness, openness and inclusiveness. In her role as coordinator of undergraduate initiatives, Conover leads the Nature of Life Program and Guild Initiatives in Biology 1805 and 1806, key aspects of the College of Biological Sciences experience for many students. From the nomination:
"Abby is the primary program coordinator for this 'signature experience' for undergraduate CBS students, which includes managing the residential summer experience at Itasca for approximately 600 entering first-year students and teaching the two-year, four-semester course series for all first- and second-year students. In her position, Abby positively impacts fully half of the CBS undergraduate student population (over 1,000 students) each year and does so in a way that takes into consideration students’ development and needs at different points in their academic journey and nudges students to explore ideas and activities that may be slightly outside of their comfort zone."