Adjusted For Size, Emory & Henry A Big Winner

EMORY, Va. – With the announcement of a teaching and research award Tuesday, Emory & Henry College adds another claim to its resume: Adjusted for size, it is the top winner of statewide awards, according to numbers generated by the college.

“I’ve never been at an institution where the faculty cared so much about the students, and that’s one of the things that I think makes us real special,” said Jim Duchamp, the E&H chemistry professor who received a 2009 Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

“I think it reflects the wonderful, supportive community that we have at the college,” Duchamp said of the teaching and research award he received after 15 years of teaching at E&H.

College spokesman Dirk Moore said Emory & Henry has won 10 statewide awards, or one for every 97 students currently enrolled, according to a spreadsheet comparing colleges around the state.

Second in this measure of quality is Washington & Lee University, in Lexington, which has won one award for every 189 students; and third is the University of Richmond, which has won one for every 203 students.

While big public universities such as Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, and the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, have won more awards in terms of sheer numbers, UVA has received one award for every 792 students and Virginia Tech has received one for every 1,060 students.

According to the spreadsheet, UVA-Wise has won one award for every 982 students and Southwest Virginia Community College has won one for every 1,992 students.

The analysis, which put Emory & Henry first in the state, considered statewide awards given over a 20-year period by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Moore said these are the two statewide awards for which all colleges and universities are
eligible.

“It’s amazing, really. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said E&H President Rosalind Reichard, who describes the atmosphere on campus as lively.

“I’ve been at other really good schools in other states, and if we won one award we were really thrilled,” she said. She credits the quality of the Emory & Henry community and its student-focused mission for the numerous awards it’s received.

In addition to statewide awards, a professor at the college was named U.S. Professor of the Year in 1999.

Moore said the awards are a reflection of quality – the same type of quality recognized by the college’s top-100 ranking in last year’s Forbes Magazine assessment of colleges around the nation.

“All these things are sort of adding to the claim we can make strongly, and that is that we have an extraordinary learning environment here with extraordinary teachers,” Moore said. “It is extraordinary that a college this small has been honored this many times for its teaching. And it’s extraordinary that a college this small is in the top 100 out of more than 3,000 nationwide.”

Other award-winning Emory & Henry professors are Steve Fisher, Samir Saliba, John Lang, T. Edward Damer, Kathleen Chamberlain, David Copeland, Teresa Keller and Jack Roper.

Moore said Duchamp is “just real smart” – and, in addition to being co-inventor of a method to improve MRI images, is dedicated to helping students apply their knowledge to improving the world.

Duchamp said he’s been fortunate enough to work in collaboration with larger institutions that have more research infrastructure – including 10 years of work with Harry Dorn at Virginia Tech.

But he said people are what it’s about, and he has a simple trick to get students excited about chemistry, which some regard as a difficult subject: enthusiasm.

“I think the purpose of research is different at a smaller college,” Duchamp said. “It’s about involving students and more helping them develop into scientists.”

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