June 28, 2000
Contact: Shari Lorbach
College of Humanities
(614) 292-1882
COLUMBUS Ð The Ohio State University College of Humanities has named Sam Meier of WORTHINGTON, professor of Hebrew, as the recipient of the 2000 Rodica C. Botoman Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring.
Established four years ago by former Columbus businessman Ben M. Jones III of NAPLES, Fl., the Botoman Award is the university's largest prize for distinguished undergraduate teaching, providing a $5,000 award. The award, formerly named for Jones, was renamed at his request last year to honor its first recipient, professor of Romanian Rodica C. Botoman (43220).
Meier was surprised with the Botoman Award at the college's Baccalaureate celebration in June. According to Margaret Mills, his department chair, Meier "brings intense enthusiasm and interest to his classroom and is an extremely careful and courteous listener. He is very, very good at figuring out where students are coming from and supplying them with the information they need to gain intellectual control of the course."
Meier joined the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures in 1986. Since then, he has taught every Hebrew class--from grammar to literature--in the department's curriculum. He also teaches other Semitic languages and offers classes on the history of ancient Israel as well as on the Bible and other sacred texts of the Near East. Only three years after his arrival at Ohio State, Meier won an Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award.
To be eligible for the prize, college faculty must have a sustained record of both excellent teaching across a range of undergraduate courses and outstanding out-of-class service to students. Nominations are solicited from students, colleagues, alumni and parents, and the winner is selected by a committee composed of the dean of the college, two department chairs, a member of the university's Academy of Teaching, and two undergraduate students.
In addition to Botoman, previous recipients of the award include Alan Beyerchen, professor of German history; Mark Grimsley, professor of American history, and Lindsay Jones, professor of comparative studies.
Botoman, the committee's unanimous choice in 1996, is credited with developing Ohio State's Romanian program -- the largest such program outside Romania. She is a faculty member in the college's Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures.
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