Interviews with Excellent Teachers

Alan DeSantis – Associate Professor of Communication, UK Faculty Athletics Representative to the NCAA and SEC.
Good friends in high school and good teachers at James Madison University, the University of Alabama, and Indiana University led Alan to a career at UK that began in 1993.  Over time, Alan developed COM 101 from a small, undersubscribed course into a 1200-student-per-year phenomenon.  Alan has won numerous teaching awards.  In this interview, Alan discusses teaching mass lecture hall classes, getting students to “ask the hard questions about their lives,” and how much he loves teaching.  In the picture, Alan's the one with the sunglasses, of course!

Everett McCorvey – Professor of Voice and Lexington Opera Society Endowed Chair in Opera Studies, Director of UK Opera
Everett began his musical career playing the trumpet, but as an undergraduate at the University of Alabama, he turned to vocal music.  After several years of performing in New York City and touring with the Sherwin Goldman production of Porgy and Bess, he returned to Alabama for a Doctorate of Musical Arts.  Everett joined UK in 1991 and has since built UK Opera into an internationally known program for training young artists.  In this interview, Everett discusses how his past work as a freelance performer enhances his teaching, the challenge of getting NetGen students to spend time practicing, and his desire to have students become great citizens as well as great artists.

John Nychka – Assistant Professor of Materials Engineering
John grew up in Canada and received his B.Sc. degree from the University of Alberta, and his M.Eng. degree from McMaster University, before going on to doctoral work at the University of California Santa Barbara.  John joined the UK faculty in August 2005 following a post-doc at Santa Barbara.  John teaches introductory classes, senior electives, and lab courses  classes in Materials Science and Engineering.  In this interview, John talks about engaging students in surprising ways with everyday materials, learning about his students and who they are, and about balancing research and teaching by working steadily but with restraint at each task.

Anna Secor – Associate Professor of Geography
Anna received her undergraduate degree from Oberlin College before going on to the University of Colorado for graduate studies.  She joined the UK faculty in 2000 as a brand-new PhD and received the Provost’s Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2005.  Anna talks about learning to meet students where they are in their thinking and skills instead of where she wishes they were, maintaining authority in the classroom, and balancing research and teaching by putting boundaries around teaching preparation time.

Kim Woodrum – Lecturer of Chemistry, Director of General Chemistry
Kim is one of UK’s own, receiving her undergraduate and graduate degrees in chemistry from UK before beginning to teach at UK in 1994 and becoming the Director of General Chemistry in 2000.  Kim has become one of UK’s most popular teachers in the difficult topic of General Chemistry.  In this interview, Kim talks about remembering that what she knows so well is brand-new to each batch of students, keeping her energy up by focusing on interested, excited students, using active learning techniques and technology to engage students, and a great student success story.