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REXBURG, ID –Five members of the Brigham Young
University-Idaho faculty received Distinguished Faculty Awards at the
recent all-employee banquet.
The
awards were presented to Wade Anderson of the physical education
department, Jerry Hansen of the religious education department, Ellis
Miller of the physics department, Kendell Nielsen of the music department
and Phil Packer, an associate academic vice president and faculty member in
the business management department.
Anderson, who retired Sept. 1,
taught and coached at Ricks College and BYU-Idaho for 33 years in baseball,
basketball, football, swimming, tennis and multiple other sports and
physical education classes.
Hansen currently teaches
Christian history, world religion and the Pearl of Great Price in the
religion department in addition to being the international studies
director. He has been at BYU-Idaho since fall 1988.
“I love to teach, Hansen said.
“I love the daily engagement of thought and insight with the students.”
Ellis Miller, who teaches
astronomy, laboratory astronomy, and archaeoastronomy in the physics
department, is starting his 26th year at BYU-Idaho.
He said that among his favorite
things about working at BYU-Idaho is having colleagues and students who
have testimonies of the gospel.
“I get to teach gospel
principles along with the secular knowledge, which I can’t do elsewhere,”
Miller said. “The Lord has given us a mandate to be educated, and this
provides an excellent way to combine the things of the heavens with the
secular.”
Nielsen, who currently serves
as the music theory coordinator, associate symphony orchestra conductor,
symphonic band assistant, chamber winds conductor and French horn
instructor, has been a member of the faculty since 1987.
“It has made me try to stay
more on task with things that are important to good teaching, such as being
very careful with grading homework, being available for students,
connecting, knowing the subject matter inside and out, all of those kinds
of things,” Nielsen said. “My favorite thing about being a faculty member
is being able to utilize the gospel as a teaching tool. My second favorite
is the students themselves.”
Packer serves as the associate
academic vice president of instruction and teaches a real estate class in
the business management department. He said that the best part of his eight
years of being a member of the faculty at BYU-Idaho is the opportunity to
interact with students as they prepare for their futures.
“I think people are important
and their development is important,” Packer said. “The award has humbled me
and it inspires me to always be looking for ways to improve my teaching.”
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