Midland College announces 2024 Teaching Excellence winners

Dr. Terry Gilmour and Erick Gutierrez were announced as 2024 Dr. Stan Jacobs Teaching Excellence Award winners at a ceremony at Midland College on April 24.

The peer-driven awards are presented each year to faculty members making significant contributions through innovation in their classrooms and commitment to students.

Dr. Gilmour is a professor of Government/Political Science, having taught Government fulltime at MC since 1997. She served as an adjuct faculty member for several years. Along with teaching government courses, Dr. Gilmour also serves as director of MC’s Honors Program and as advisor to the college’s Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

Gutierrez serves as department chair, associate professor for Automation, Automotive Technology, Diesel Technology, Natural Gas Compression and Petroleum Energy Technology at MC. This year, he led his students to 15 separate awards in the Skills USA competitions at district and state levels, according to MC.

Gutierrez said being honored by his peers is an honor. A lab assistant described him as a great instructor who “is constantly looking out for his students.”

“Working in industry, I had a real passion for the subject matter, but I also had a really deep passion with working with people,” Gutierrez said. “So when I came to work at Midland College, I get to work alongside people every day,a nd talk about the very thing I love.”

Dr. Gilmour was similarly described as an educator who deeply cares about her students. One student recalled how she is great at communicating what she teaches, and how her energy and positivity are contagious in a classroom.

Dr. Gilmour also expressed gratitude for being recognized for accomplishing her passion.

“It’s gratifying to know that even after all these years there are some people who value what I do on this campus,” she said, adding, “I hope they leave Midland College with a lifelong love for learning.”

Thanks to the endowment of Dr. Stan Jacobs, a retired MC professor, both winners received a $5,000 cash honorarium and a plaque. Their names are also permanently displayed in the Pevehouse Administration Building, along with the names of winners from previous years, states MC.

The 2024 nominees were:

Transfer Finalists:

• Dr. Terry Gilmour – Professor Government/ Political Science
• Dr. Debbie McNeely – Associate Professor, Psychology
• Joey Schenkman – Associate Professor, Biology

Workforce Finalists:

• Brooke Foutch – Department Chair, Instructor Nursing – Vocational
• Erick Gutierrez – Department Chair, Associate Professor Automation, Automotive Technology, Diesel Technology, Natural Gas Compression, Petroleum Energy Technology,
• Anita Shellenberger – Professor Office Systems Technology, Computer Information Technology

More information about the nominees and winners can be accessed here.

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