Compassion, creativity net teaching award for Abaye

BLACKSBURG, Va., June 21, 2001 -- For A. Ozzie Abaye, teaching is a passion that energizes her and that energizes her students. Her passion transforms the act of teaching into learning by her students. Her passion and her skills in the classroom are among reasons Abaye is to be awarded the 2001 University Alumni Award for Teaching Excellence.

The award will be presented Sept. 21 at the annual Faculty-Staff Awards Ceremony at the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center on campus.

In the nearly nine years she has been on the faculty in the Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences, Abaye has made her mark with students. In three-quarters of the end-of-course evaluations, students awarded her a 3.9 or better rating on teaching ability.

In addition to teaching, she is an adviser for undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students, as well as a member of a number of master's and doctoral committees. She has developed two new courses, and she has conducted a very successful research program as well.

Abaye also advises student clubs and teams. She coaches the university crops judging team that competes at the regional and national level. She has served as adviser to the Agronomy Club, Sigma Alpha Women's Professional Society and several other organizations.

She has generated funding to take students to the field for on-site evaluations of the types of problems discussed in her courses. Field trips, group activities, and active learning experiences are among her favorite teaching methods. With them, she combines an understanding nature to create a learning environment that many students rate as the best they have at Virginia Tech.

Abaye, by virtue of receiving the University Alumni Award for Teaching Excellence, joins the university's Academy of Teaching Excellence.

She earned her bachelor's degree from Wilson College, her master's degree from Pennsylvania State University, and her doctorate from Virginia Tech.