April 11, 2006 -- Dr. David W. Cox, Dr. Sarath A. Nonis and Dr. Tom Williams today were named recipients of the 2005-06 Board of Trustees Faculty Achievement Awards during a Convocation of Scholars ceremony at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.

Cox, professor of education, received the Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Nonis, professor of marketing, received the Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship.

Williams, assistant professor of English, received the Faculty Award for Professional Service.

The winners were announced during the annual Faculty Honors Convocation, a highlight of the annual Convocation of Scholars events. A university committee reviews nominations from professional colleagues and makes the selections.

Excellence in Teaching
Cox was recognized by his nominators for "his passion to teach, use of innovative teaching techniques, and his love for the field of leadership." Much of his success as a professor has been attributed to his methods for engaging his students directly and through teleconferencing in "intense dialog" with experts in the field. The web-assisted learning spotlights "hot issues" pertinent to the coursework. He also uses an "array of techniques to stimulate and enhance discussion."

A member of the ASU faculty since 1992, he earned his bachelor's and master’s degrees from the University of Florida, and his doctorate from the University of Illinois.

Excellence in Scholarship
Nonis, who joined the ASU faculty in 1991, was lead author of five scholarly articles published in refereed scholarly journals this year, and co-author of a sixth. He also was lead author for two refereed proceedings articles, one of which received the McGraw-Hill/Irwin Distinguished Paper Award for best paper in the marketing discipline at the Academy of Collegiate Marketing Educators annual conference.

Nonis completed his bachelor’s degree, his MBA, and a doctoral degree at the University of North Texas.

Excellence in Professional Service
Williams has been a faculty member at ASU since 2000. He serves as editor of Arkansas Review, a scholarly journal produced three times per year at ASU. He also has been closely involved with the Delta Blues Symposium at ASU. Williams was also ". . . largely responsible for the revival of the award-winning ASU student literary magazine now called Tributary." Students associated with the publication have commended him as an effective teacher and motivator.

Williams earned his bachelor of arts degree at Ashland College, his master’s at Ohio State University-Columbus, and his doctorate at the University of Houston.