Contact: Maridith Geuder
A veteran Mississippi State University professor is receiving one of the top alumni awards at his alma mater.
Paul Grootkerk, a member of the art faculty since 1978, is being honored with the 1999 Grazella Shephard Memorial Award given by the Educator's Forum of Case Western Reserve University. He holds both master's and doctoral degrees from the Cleveland, Ohio, school.
To be presented May 1, the honor spotlights CWR alumni who have "made significant contribution to excellence in education."
In his two decades at Mississippi State, Grootkerk has earned designation as a John Grisham Master Teacher and received a host of other national and state teaching awards. Most recently, was named 1998 Mississippi Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
Others include a national Burlington Northern Foundation Achievement Award for Teaching Excellence, MSU Alumni Association's Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award, University Honors Program Outstanding Faculty Member Award, and the College of Arts and Sciences' Paideia Award for Teaching Excellence.
Grootkerk's forthcoming book, "Agrarian Art: The Influence of Agriculture on Southern Art," is being published by the University Press of Mississippi.