In late August, ETSU recognized three professors for their hard work at ETSU.
The university presented the professors who were nominated and selected by their faculty peers with 2017 Distinguished Faculty Awards.
These awards included a Distinguished Faculty Award in Teaching, which was presented to Dr. Robert Beeler, an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics in the College of Arts and Sciences; the Distinguished Faculty Award for Research presented to Dr. David Harker, an associate professor of philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Philosophy and Humanities; and the Distinguished Faculty Award for Service presented to Dr. Susan Epps, an associate professor in the Department of Allied Health Sciences within the College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences.
According to the press release from the Office on University relations, Dr. Epps was recognized for her long and distinguished history of service to the university, which includes currently serving as president of ETSU’s Faculty Senate.
“I was floored when I received the award from my college, but receiving the award at the university level, in all honesty, rendered me speechless,” Epps said. “To be recognized by not one, but two, committees of my peers for my service to the university was an incredibly humbling experience.”
“When I think about the faculty members who have received this award in the past, they are such amazing, gifted, committed people,” Epps said. “It’s an honor to have my name alongside theirs.”
Epps has been very involved on campus not just as a professor or serving as president of the Faculty Senate. She also currently serves as the NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative for ETSU, another post as Chair of the University Judicial Board and is the immediate past chair of the Instructional Development Advisory Committee.
Epps believes getting to work with students has been the most rewarding part of her career.
“I started out as an intern with Dr. Sally Lee in the Student Affairs Office when I was finishing my master’s in student development from Appalachian State University,” said Epps. “That was almost 23 years ago. I’ve had the privilege to teach and work with a lot of students in that time, and every year I look forward to meeting new students, to watching them grow and develop over the years, to seeing them at graduation. I warn them that I’ll be waiting to hug them after they walk across the stage.”
