INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Biology professor Michael Yard has earned the Glenn Irwin Award for 2011 based on his contributions to the School of Science, University College, the Bridge Program, the Crispus Attucks Medical Magnet Learning Community, and the Healthcare Professions Program Thematic Learning Community.
The Glenn Irwin Award is presented each year to recognize faculty and staff at IUPUI who have gone “above and beyond the call of duty” in their work. All full-time faculty and staff are eligible to be nominated for this award. The award was originally the IUPUI Experience Excellence Award, but when Dr. Glenn W. Irwin Jr. retired from IUPUI in 1986, the award’s name was changed to honor him and his contributions to the university.
Yard said he is “deeply honored” to receive the Glenn Irwin Award because he knew Dr. Irwin during his undergraduate years at IUPUI. Yard earned his undergraduate degrees in biology and chemistry at IUPUI while on active duty in the Army. Serving in the Army was another bond between him and Dr. Irwin, he said.
Yard is currently a lecturer and the Course Director of Anatomy at IUPUI’s Department of Biology where he lectures over 400 students. He was a faculty mentor for the Summer Bridge Program this year and for the Healthcare Professions Program Thematic Learning Community (HPP TLC) team.
The Summer Bridge Program helps prepare incoming freshman for their college experience by sharpening their math, writing, and communication skills, while HPP TLC is a continuation of the program in the fall. Students in the HPP TLC also get involved in Science Education for New Civic Engagement and Responsibility (SENCER) in which they make a positive impact in the community through volunteering at various organizations including the Ronald McDonald House, Joy’s House, and the Julian Center.
Yard was also the lead faculty in the Crispus Attucks Medical Magnet Learning Community this summer. Students from the Crispus Attucks Medical Magnet High School who had expressed interest in the medical field took this seminar course at IUPUI that gives students the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in college and the medical field.
“I tell (my students) that every one of them is precious,” he said. Because he values his students, he wants them to do well and has high expectations for them. “I hold them to a high standard.”
Yard said the desire to make an impact on students, help them succeed in college, and get them interested in the sciences is what drives him to go above and beyond his call of duty. He said he tries to make an impact on students so that they can make an impact in the community and in the world.
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For more information, contact Harriett Bennett at (317) 274-5036 or emailhbennett@iupui.edu.