2019 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION DISTINGUISHED TEACHING AWARD
Students, faculty and alumni submit nominations for the Distinguished Teaching Award. Up to four faculty members are honored annually for their dedication to high-quality teaching.
Melissa Bamford PhD, Department of Sociology
Dr. Melissa Bamford is an Instructor and Online Coordinator for the Department of Sociology at the University
of Memphis. She earned her PhD in Sociology in 2014 from Florida State University. At
the University of Memphis, she teaches undergraduate courses both in-person and online,
including Introduction to Sociology, Contemporary Social Problems, Race and Ethnicity,
Sociology of Gender, Social Inequality, Social Statistics, and Intro to Women's and
Gender Studies.
Dr. Bamford's classes integrate current events, media, sociological theories, and data with the intention that students will learn to view the world around them through a sociological lens and recognize their own role in shaping society.
Adoracion Berry PhD, Department of World Languages and Literatures
Adoración Berry has taught Spanish for the Department of World Languages and Literatures at the University
of Memphis for 19 years where she has taught undergraduate classes in both models:
face-to-face and online. In addition, she has designed and coordinated the development
of online courses. Dr. Berry has, for two years, served as the co-coordinator for
the Standardization of the Basic Spanish program at the World Languages and Literatures
at the University of Memphis. There, her team was responsible for the redesign of
the basic program to better serve the student needs at the University of Memphis.
In 2010, the team received a TBR Course Revitalization Grant based on the standardization
process work and received permission to extend the redesign to the three remaining
basic Spanish courses. She continues to work at the World Languages and Literatures
at the University of Memphis to improve and expand the design of other online courses
and to provide support to the online team. Dr. Berry received her Ed.D. in Education
at the University of Memphis in 2016.
Remy Debes PhD, Department of Philosophy
Dr. Remy Debes completed his PhD in Philosophy at the University of Michigan in 2006, and joined the University of Memphis faculty the same year. His published research is in the areas of Moral Theory and the History of Ethics, with an emphasis on Human Dignity, Respect, Moral Psychology, Empathy and Enlightenment Ethics, esp. David Hume and Adam Smith.
He is the recipient of the Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teaching (2009 and 2019), the College of Arts & Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award (2010) and the Dean's Award for Advising Excellence (2011). His research has been supported by various fellowships and awards including the Charlotte Newcombe Fellowship, the John Templeton Foundation Fellowship and the Marcus W. Orr Center for the Humanities Fellowship. In addition to a variety of department and college roles, he served on the President's Research Vision Council from 2015—2018 and is a current member of the University of Memphis Research Council.
Over the past year, together with Kate Schaffzin, he co-chaired the University Middle Steering Committee. He has also served as Editor of the Southern Journal of Philosophy since 2017.
He is currently serving as the Chair of the Department of Philosophy.