Maura Reynolds, director of advising and associate professor of Latin at Hope College, has been named recipient of the college's fourth annual "Vanderbush- Weller Development Fund" award for her strong, positive impact on students.
Maura Reynolds, director of advising and associate professor of Latin at Hope College, has been named recipient of the college's fourth annual "Vanderbush- Weller Development Fund" award for her strong, positive impact on students.
The award recognizes and supports the efforts of Hope faculty and staff who make extraordinary contributions to the lives of students. Reynolds was recognized during a dinner held on Thursday, May 1, in conjunction with the May meeting of the college's Board of Trustees.
"Maura is an exceptional choice for the Vanderbush-Weller award," said Dr. Richard Frost, who is vice president for student development and dean of students at Hope, and chairs the selection committee of students, faculty and staff. "She handles her responsibilities with competence, compassion and care that extend far above the standard. She is perhaps one individual who knows more students than anybody else through her teaching, advising, planning, first-year scheduling and just helping out with academic questions in general. In short, Maura is awesome."
Reynolds joined the college in 1974 as director of the Academic Support Center, a position she held for four years, also teaching expository writing. She began teaching Latin at Hope in 1980.
She was appointed director of advising in 1988. She also served as coordinator for pilot sections of Hope's "First-Year Seminar" program. She delivered the college's Commencement address in May of 2001, and Opening Convocation address in August of 1998.
Reynolds has helped plan and implement New Student Orientation at Hope since 1987. Since 1989, she has been a member of the staff of the college's Teaching Enhancement Workshop, which is geared toward faculty members about to begin their first year at Hope.
She has made several presentations at professional conferences, discussing advising and teaching. She is currently serving a three-year term as chair of the Small Colleges and Universities Commission of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA).
Reynolds holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Latin from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to coming to Hope, she had taught Latin at West Ottawa High School and at Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Ill.
The "Vanderbush-Weller Development Fund" was established in honor of longtime Hope professor and football coach Alvin Vanderbush of Bloomington, Minn., who retired in 1972. It was created by Ken and Shirely Weller of Knoxville, Iowa. Ken Weller is one of Vanderbush's former players and also a former Hope faculty colleague.