LEXINGTON, KY (January 8th, 2014) - For the second year in a row, the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, has been honored to have a faculty member selected for the highly coveted award ‘UK’s Great Teacher of the Year’ given to only six recipients each year.  One of last year’s 2013 recipients was Professor John Grove.  Just last month, another PSS faculty member, Mark Coyne, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies for the IPSS graduate program, was greeted with a pleasant surprise during a class he was teaching, as he was named one of 2014’s Great Teachers at the University of Kentucky.

The nominations are made by students. Selection is awarded to six recipients by the UK Alumni Association Great Teacher Awards Committee, in cooperation with student organizations Omicron Delta Kappa and Mortar Board each year for outstanding teaching, presenting them with Great Teacher Awards. Each professor is awarded a citation, an engraved plaque, and a $3,000 cash award.  It is the oldest award teachers can receive from the University, having been given continuously since 1961.

The University of Kentucky Alumni Association will formally present its 2014 Great Teacher Awards to this year’s recipients at a recognition dinner, followed by an appearance at Rupp Arena’s center court during halftime at a UK men’s basketball game in the coming months.