WNCC Professor Doris Dwyer Earns Statewide Teaching Award

Western Nevada Community College Professor Doris Dwyer has been awarded the 2005 Nevada Regents' Community College Teaching Award by the University and Community College System of Nevada Board of Regents. The annual statewide award for a Nevada community college faculty member comes with a check for $5,000.

Dr. Dwyer, history and humanities professor at WNCC's Fallon campus, is one of the college's most honored faculty members. She has twice been voted Instructor of the Year by students at the Fallon campus, was honored by her peers as Outstanding Faculty Member and was given the Governor's Humanities Award by the Nevada Humanities Committee. Dr. Dwyer is probably best known, however, for her more than 250 appearances nationwide as a Chautauquan, where scholars painstakingly study historical figures to take on their personae, then illuminate their characters in live presentations.

In nominating Dwyer, her colleagues described her as an innovative teacher, a state and nationally recognized scholar, and a productive researcher. Former students said her innovative teaching methods gave them a realistic view of what a university course would demand from them and her high expectations challenged them to excel.

Doris Dwyer