OSU professor honored with Excellence in Teaching Award

culture communications alumna, her contributions as a teacher aided the program in building on its strengths.

Rob Terry is the head of the agricultural education, communications and leadership department and said Legg has been instrumental in reaching national prestige and the overall success of the agricultural communications program.

Legg said she can’t help but feel proud as she reflects on her career.

“My students will be the first to tell you I expect excellence,” Legg said. “And I expect no less from myself.” pline, dedication and compassion.”

OSU students have collected and won more than 500 awards from the National ACT Critique and Contest under Legg’s guidance.

Legg takes a comprehensive approach when it comes to her students. She said creating genuine relationships with her students is the key to seeing them prosper in all aspects of their lives.

Shelly Peper Legg received the Excellence in Teaching Award for her service and legacy.

Legg is a professor in the OSU Department of Agricultural Education, Communications and Leadership and recently received the distinction at the Ferguson College of Agriculture Scholarship and Awards Banquet. She began her career in Stillwater with the Cowboys in February 1992 as an academic advisor and instructor after several years of a career in the communications industry.

With Legg being an OSU agri-

“When Dr. Legg began her tenure, there was no need for an ‘AGCM’ course prefix due to how few students were enrolled,” Terry said. “Her tireless dedication, vision, innovative leadership, devotion to teaching and insistence on excellence have created an academic program admired by our peer institutions.”

Terry said Legg gained knowledge from her industry experience and used it to transform the agriculture communications curriculum. She developed or redesigned 10 of the 17 courses she has taught.

Furthermore, the biannual magazine produced by agriculture communications students, the Cowboy Journal, has earned 15 national best student publication awards from several professional and collegiate organizations since its first issue in 1998.

An agricultural communications professor, Dwayne Cartmell, believes this level of success was achievable because of Legg’s dedication to her students outside of the classroom.

“Shelly treats every student as if they were her own,” Cartmell said. “I have yet to meet a student who doesn’t value her unique combination of disci-

“Learning by doing is more than a motto to Dr. Legg,” said Cynda Clary, associate dean of the Ferguson College of Agriculture. “It serves as the foundation for her teaching philosophy and motivates her to connect personally with her students.”

Legg has been honored with more than 45 awards in her over 30 year tenure, and for her, receiving the Excellence in Teaching Award is a sign of a career well-spent.

“After three decades of being a faculty member in this college, I know that I’m getting close to where I’m ready to step into something else,” Legg said. news.ed@ocolly.com