FACULT Y ACHIE VEMENTS
The Academy of Teaching Scholars (ATS) is composed of OU College of Medicine faculty members who are passionate about medical education. Members provide service to the college’s educational mission by supporting ATS activities and initiatives, which include faculty development and recognition, mentoring and scholarship, and recognition and awards. Membership in the academy is based on evidence of excellence in education. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted areas in which medical education and training can be adapted to fill the needs of the healthcare industry. The leadership of the ATS believes it has a role and a responsibility to focus on faculty development strategies and interventions that allow participants to understand that, by shaping their teaching approach to the current demands of the profession, their purpose is sustained and expanded. Vannatta’s generous gift will help ATS address these needs. “Dr. Vannatta’s gift will also have a significant impact on the growth and development of the college’s medical humanities program, which will now be housed in the ATS program,” said Dr. Sheila Crow, OU College of Medicine Dean for Faculty Affairs and Professional Development. “Under the ATS leadership, the humanities program allows us to continue the critical dialog about health, healthcare and the human condition. The ATS will provide students, residents and faculty with knowledge of the humanities, encourage scholarly activity, and bridge the gap between humanities and medical care to better support our community.” Vannatta’s donation will be used to support several initiatives, including a self-paced medical teaching certificate and a teaching scholars program aimed at developing future leaders in medical and healthcare education with a focus on the core components of educational scholarship, curriculum development and the humanities. Vannatta served as executive dean of the College of Medicine from 1996 to 2002. He currently is engaged in curriculum design and faculty development for the Oklahoma City University Physician Assistant Program and teaches humanities of medicine at both OCU and the OU College of Medicine. Vannatta has a long history and interest in academic teaching and faculty development. He has received numerous teaching awards from the OU College of Medicine, including the prestigious Stanton L. Young Master Teacher Award and the Edward Young M.D. Lifetime Achievement Award. He is probably best known for his love of literature and medicine and for building the College of Medicine’s medical humanities program. Vannatta was instrumental in establishing multiple curricular and extracurricular humanities educational activities, including Blood & Thunder, a medically themed arts journal published by OU College of Medicine students.
Arlan Richardson, Ph.D.
Researcher Honored as OSU Agriculture Champion OU College of Medicine geroscience researcher and faculty member Arlan Richardson, Ph.D., was honored by Oklahoma State University as a 2021 OSU Agriculture Champion. Richardson is Professor of Research in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, director of the Oklahoma Nathan Shock Center on Aging, and a senior research career scientist at the VA Medical Center in Oklahoma City. The OSU Agriculture Champion Award recognizes individuals who are not graduates of the Ferguson College of Agriculture at OSU, but who have brought distinction to OSU Agriculture and have demonstrated a continuing interest and commitment in agricultural sciences and natural resources. Richardson earned his bachelor’s degree from Peru State College in Nebraska and his doctoral degree in chemistry at OSU. He is an adjunct professor for OSU’s Center for Veterinary Health Sciences. John Gustafson, department head for OSU’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, nominated Richardson and emphasized his strong connection to the department by the establishment and continued funding of the Dr. Arlan Richardson Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Undergraduate and Graduate Research Scholars Endowment fund. “Professor Richardson has become a quintessential example of an OSU science graduate program success,” Gustafson wrote in the nomination packet. “He is richly deserving of recognition as a Champion, as he has consistently brought accolades back to our department and Division and actively supports our department’s multiple missions.”
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