The four recipients of the 2003 Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award are (L-R) Jerome A. Hoffman, Dr. Gary K. Taylor, Dr. Rona J. Donahoe and Dr. Matthew D. Curtner-Smith.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The University of Alabama National Alumni Association has announced the four recipients of its 2003 Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award (OCTA), the University's highest honor for excellence in teaching.

The 2003 winners are Dr. Matthew D. Curtner-Smith, associate professor of kinesiology in the College of Education; Dr. Rona J. Donahoe, associate professor of geochemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences; Jerome A. Hoffman, professor of law in the UA School of Law; and Dr. Gary Kenneth Taylor, associate professor of accounting in the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration.

Established in 1976, OCTA recognizes dedication to the teaching profession and the positive impact professors have on their students. Presentation of the awards to this year’s winners took place Wednesday, Sept. 3 during the UA fall faculty-staff meeting at the Bryant Conference Center.

Curtner-Smith joined the department of kinesiology in 1991 after working as a physical education and history teacher in his native England. He supervises student teachers and teaches methods and content courses to undergraduates training to be physical educators. In addition, he teaches sport sociology to undergraduate students majoring in human performance and courses on systematic observation and pedagogical research to graduate students.

He has spent considerable time developing state-of-the-art, research-based methods courses which are linked closely with field experiences in the local schools. He has reviewed for a number of scholarly journals and served as the associate editor of The Journal of Sport Pedagogy.

Donahoe has been teaching geochemistry, thermodynamics, environmental geology and physical geology at UA for almost 20 years. This wide variety of courses taught has allowed her to enjoy contact with a diverse group of students across many levels and disciplines. She began her career at UA in 1984 as an assistant professor in the department of geology (now geological sciences) immediately after completing her doctorate at Stanford University.

For several years, Donahoe was the only faculty member in the department doing externally funded research in environmental geology. She has played an important role in developing the graduate program in environmental geology, which now enrolls approximately half of the department’s graduate students. She has published 23 papers in refereed journals and presented more than 30 papers at national and international conferences.

Hoffman joined the UA Law School faculty as an assistant professor in the fall of 1971. Professor Hoffman taught a term at the University of Missouri at Columbia Law School in 1983 as a distinguished visiting professor. At various times in his career, Hoffman has taught courses in federal jurisdiction and wills and trusts, in addition to seminars in judicial proof and bio-jurisprudence.

Although he formally retired from the Law School as a full-time faculty member in June 2003, Hoffman will continue to teach informally as needed in the areas of his specialization, civil procedure and evidence, and to read and write in those and other areas of interest. He is the last remaining active member of the original 15 members on the Alabama Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee for Civil Practice and Procedure appointed by Chief Justice Howell Heflin.

Taylor joined the Culverhouse School of Accountancy in 1996 after receiving his doctorate from the Ohio State University. Prior to entering graduate school, he worked four years for Ernst & Whinney. He was promoted to associate professor in 2002 and named director of the accounting doctoral program in spring 2003.

His research and publications primarily examine the role that accounting information plays in capital markets. While at UA, he has taught financial accounting courses at the sophomore through doctoral levels. In addition, he co-authored a financial statement analysis case that is published in Issues in Accounting Education. He led an effort to change the approach used to teach the junior level financial reporting and analysis courses. Due to the change from a traditional lecture/examination approach to a case/discussion approach, students learn to identify problems, to research the literature associated with these problems, and to prepare and defend their solutions.

The UA National Alumni Association, which gives the annual OCTA awards, is made up of more than 30,000 active alumni and friends of the University, organized into more than 100 local chapters nationwide. The association stimulates interest in and supports the betterment of the University, with member contributions accounting for more than $2 million per year in academic scholarships.