Greensboro College Grants Retiring Professor Debra Davidson Emerita Status During Commencement
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Greensboro College’s Debra Davidson, a professor of education, was granted emerita status today during the college’s Commencement ceremony.
Emeritus/emerita status may be awarded to a Greensboro College faculty member who has limited or terminated his/her responsibilities as a faculty member for reasons such as retirement after 10 or more years of distinguished service to the college.
Davidson, who is retiring this spring, was cited for her 33 years of distinguished teaching at Greensboro College.
“She has demonstrated skill and patience in developing thousands of elementary education teachers who are reflective practitioners and who themselves have now effectively taught in the hundreds of thousands of children,” Paul Leslie, senior vice president and chief academic officer, said in conferring the honor. “Her legacy will continue for many more decades to come.”
Davidson is “an active participant in state and local literacy associations; she leads professional workshops and continues her research in elementary education,” Leslie said. “She was instrumental in crafting the elementary education undergraduate and graduate curriculums here, has led the education department and Teacher Education program through state approval and national accreditation, and has participated in numerous state legislated reforms …
“She is held in high esteem as a highly effective classroom teacher and is well-respected and valued by her students and faculty peers as a contributing professional,” Leslie added. “She spends a considerable amount of time mentoring students outside of the classroom. As a student-centered professor she frequently offers independent study courses to individual students when they need those classes to fulfill state licensing or graduation requirements.”
Outside the classroom, Davidson has served the college as Director of Teacher Education, Education Department chair, division chair, Curriculum and Instruction Committee representative, and as a member of the college’s reaccreditation task force and numerous other task forces.
“She is a musician, horticulturalist, highland dancer, volunteer for the Highland Games, quilter, master gardener, farmer, home restorer, and inspiring and loving mother, wife and grandmother,” Leslie concluded.
The Dean of the Faculty presents candidates for emeritus/emerita status to the president, who in turn submits his recommendations to the Board of Trustees, which makes the final decision on this honor.
Davidson holds a B.S. from Appalachian State University, an M.S. from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska.
Greensboro College provides a liberal arts education grounded in the traditions of the United Methodist Church and fosters the intellectual, social, and, spiritual development of all students while supporting their individual needs.
Founded in 1838 and located in downtown Greensboro, the college enrolls about 1,000 students from 29 states and territories, the District of Columbia, and seven foreign countries in its undergraduate liberal-arts program and six master’s degree programs. In addition to rigorous academics and a well-supported Honors program, the school features a 17-sport NCAA Division III athletic program and dozens of service and recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.greensboro.edu.
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