2014 W. Russell Smith Award for Teaching Excellence

The W. Russell Smith Teaching Award honors a faculty member within the College of Arts and Sciences for teaching excellence. All full-time faculty members with at least four years of service in the College of Arts and Sciences are eligible. The award is selected by vote of the graduating seniors and consists of a certificate and cash payment.

The award is the College's highest honor for teaching excellence.  The selection of a recipient is based primarily on nominations by graduating seniors who are asked to nominate up to three of their professors who have taught for at least three years in the College.  What adds to the prestige of this award is the number of faculty members who are nominated by students.

Randy Dupont, Criminology and Criminal Justice

Dr. Dupont received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. He has worked with the Memphis Police Department as instructor and lead consultant to the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) where he provided consultation to municipalities nationwide. He has been the principal investigator or co-principal investigator on over $10 million in research and program development grants.

He has been an invited presenter at a number of national conferences and has published in the fields of officer safety, issues concerning the use of force, jail diversion, victimology and addictive disorders. His current work focuses on the use of technology to enhance police crisis intervention training and CIT program outcomes.