School of Molecular Sciences faculty recognized for excellence in teaching


May 8, 2019

Each year, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University recognizes exceptional teaching that inspires intellectual curiosity and academic excellence with the Zebulon Pearce Distinguished Teaching Award and the Outstanding Lecturer Award. This year, the recipient of the Zebulon Pearce Distinguished Teaching Award in the Natural Sciences is Professor Anne Jones, and the recipient of the Outstanding Lecturer Award is Ron Briggs, both from the School of Molecular Sciences.

Jones's teaching philosophy embraces the idea that learning needs to be active and contextualized to promote student interest. She brings a Socratic and a "learning by doing" approach to a wide range of classes, from freshman general chemistry through a senior-level course in inorganic chemistry to a popular graduate-level, scientific writing course. SMS Faculty Recognized for Excellence in Teaching Professor Ron Briggs (left) and Professor Anne Jones with School of Molecular Sciences Director Neal Woodbury at The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences spring 2019 convocation. Download Full Image

A former student said, “Dr. Jones was one of the best teachers I have had in my life. Her lectures were engaging and versatile, and I never felt bored or stagnant in this course. She is truly an expert in her field and a fantastic professor. I feel very well-prepared for chemistry courses to come.”

As School of Molecular Sciences associate director of academic affairs, Jones has led several recent major teaching innovations. She guided the creation of a massive open online course (MOOC) in General Chemistry for Engineers as part of ASU’s Global Freshman Academy. The course was based on a completely new contextualized curriculum and active learning principles. She also spearheaded the launch of the first online biochemistry degree in the United States. In less than two years, the new online degree program has attracted more than 650 majors. The online degree offers opportunity to students seeking career advancement who are otherwise excluded from higher education. Jones is also redesigning the freshman general chemistry courses for chemistry and biochemistry majors, to make them more inclusive and relevant to students.

“Professor Jones's work in rethinking and implementing our chemistry curriculum has resulted in a program that both better meets the intellectual needs of our students and is accessible to many, many more learners,” said Neal Woodbury, director of the School of Molecular Sciences. "We are tremendously indebted to her efforts.”

Briggs, a principal lecturer in the School of Molecular Sciences, has enjoyed a distinguished 15-year teaching career at ASU. In addition to bringing creativity and excitement for chemistry into his classroom, he coordinates the general chemistry program at the Tempe campus. In this capacity, he helps guide the curriculum and manage instructional resources for over 5,000 students per year. This is the second time he has been honored with the Outstanding Lecturer Award, previously receiving it in 2007.

Briggs consistently receives teaching reviews that are among the highest in the school. One former student stated, "He possesses many outstanding personal, academic and professional qualities that enable him to be one of the best, if not the best professor I have ever had. He has the unique ability to completely engage the students in the learning process and give them the self-belief that they are able to succeed in the course and their major."

Briggs’s teaching is characterized by his students as dynamic, entertaining and humorous. He sets the tone at the beginning of each class with a funny video clip from “Saturday Night Live” or a David Hasselhoff music video. He finds this gets students to class early and wakes their brains, making them more receptive to learning. His lectures are supplemented by group activities and multimedia content from television and movies that relate chemistry to everyday life with a pop culture or entertainment twist. Before each exam, he holds unique review sessions in the form of game shows.

“The most popular is ‘Who Wants To Be a Chemmillionaire,’” Briggs said, “in which I incorporate commercial parodies at each break, bring in special lighting, and even have a 'professional' announcer on hand for my introduction. Instructors in neighboring lecture halls are always inquisitive when they hear the loud cheering, applause and laughter. I enjoy the looks on their faces when I tell them what was going on and when they ask how they can get their own students that engaged in a review session.”

Briggs has a record of sustained implementation of new teaching techniques and modifications to course content. He helped develop and implement recitation and laboratory programs that maintain a student-centered approach, where teaching assistants and instructors are facilitators, allowing students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

“Dr. Briggs’ leadership of our general chemistry program and his own experience and skills in the classroom have allowed us to provide thousands of students each semester with the solid background in fundamental chemical principles that they need," Woodbury said. "His attention to detail and focus on maintaining consistent quality in a dynamic and complex set of classes is essential to the smooth operation of the program.”

Jones's and Briggs’s efforts were honored at The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences convocation on May 7 in Wells Fargo Arena.

Written by Ian Gould, iangould@asu.edu.

NPR top news executive Nancy C. Barnes urges Cronkite graduates to embrace change, not fear it


May 8, 2019

Nancy C. Barnes, senior vice president for news at National Public Radio, told new journalism graduates of Arizona State University on Tuesday they need to be prepared to celebrate change, not resist it.

Barnes was the keynote convocation speaker at the graduation ceremony for the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Comerica Theatre in downtown Phoenix, where 313 students received degrees with more than 2,400 guests in attendance. NPR news executive Nancy Barnes advised graduates to “hold fast to your principles and find your guiding compass amid all of this disruptive change.” Photo by Victor Ren Download Full Image

Barnes, who also has led newspapers in Houston, Minneapolis and Raleigh, North Carolina, said she entered journalism at a time of typewriters and dial-up landlines. Since then, both the technology that reporters use and the way audiences consume information have been transformed, she said, and the pace of change is only likely to accelerate.

“Success will depend on your ability to lean into change, to bravely and, indeed, happily, face the future, and not rage against it,” she said.

At the same time, she advised graduates to “hold fast to your principles and find your guiding compass amid all of this disruptive change.”

Journalists, she said, bear a heavy responsibility to “hold up our responsibilities to the First Amendment and (to) tell the American people not what they want to hear, but what they need to hear and to know to live in our free society.”

Barnes, who took the top news position at NPR last fall, also encouraged the graduates to live a “life of adventure.”

“Make it a spectacular one — one that when that blink of an eye comes and you are living in that future that looks like today’s science fiction, reflecting back on your lifetime, you will feel that it was a life to be proud of, a life that imbued you with hope, optimism, love and adventure,” she said.

Of the school’s 313 graduates, 292 received bachelor’s degrees, with 149 earning a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication and 57 earning a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Journalism. Eighty-five students received a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication and Media Studies. One student earned a new Bachelor of Science in Digital Audiences.

The Cronkite School also graduated 19 master’s degree students. Of those, 12 earned a Master of Journalism and Mass Communication, three received a Master of Arts in Sports Journalism and four a Master of Science in Business Journalism

Two students, Jamie Bowen and Kristin Pellizzaro, received doctoral degrees.

Student speaker Bryce Newberry reflected on the deep sense of community he and other students have experienced at Cronkite.

“We’re lucky to have gone to a school where we were a team,” he said. “Like any family, we inspire each other and lift each other up at every milestone.”

He encouraged fellow graduates to keep that spirit alive as they enter the workforce. “Do as you’ve done here … and celebrate everyone’s success.”

About half of the graduating class earned high academic honors. Seventy-one students graduated summa cum laude with grade-point averages of at least 3.8; another 40 graduated magna cum laude with GPAs of 3.6 to 3.79; and 36 graduated cum laude with GPAs of 3.4 to 3.59.

In addition, 24 students were inducted into Kappa Tau Alpha, a national college honors society that recognizes academic excellence and promotes scholarship in journalism. The top 10 percent of the graduating class is inducted into the society each semester.

Seventeen students received the ASU Alumni Association’s Moeur Award, which is presented to graduates with the highest academic standing who have completed their degrees over eight consecutive fall and spring semesters at ASU.

Student award winners

Outstanding Graduate Student
Ashley Mackey

Outstanding Journalism Dual-Degree Student
Alicia Gonzales

ASU Alumni Association Outstanding Graduate
Kelsey Mo

Outstanding Undergraduate Students
Mia Armstrong
Austen Bundy
Lillian Donahue
Samie Gebers
Ethan Millman
Keri Orcutt
Imani Stephens

Outstanding Online Student
Shelley Fry

Highest Grade-Point Average in Journalism
Kelsey Mo

Highest Grade-Point Average in Media Studies
Amber Shepard

Top Innovator Award
Kayla King-Sumner

Cronkite Spirit Award
Jordan Elder
Chancellor Johnson

Kappa Tau Alpha National Honor Society
Mia Armstrong
Allison Barton
Jamie Bowen
Charles Bramlett
Gabriela Calles Monsivais
Jordan Elder
BrieAnna Frank
Madeleine Holler
Marguerite Mackrell
Kelsey Mo
Jaime Muldrew
Bryce Newberry
Keri Orcutt
Kirstin Pellizzaro
Daniella Rudoy
Case Smith
Skyler Snider
Rebecca Spiess
Imani Stephens
Adin Tarr
Ashlee Thomason
Jakob Wastek
Robert Werner
Jade Nicole Yeban

Moeur Award
Mia Armstrong
Allison Barton
Charles Bramlett
BrieAnna Frank
Madeleine Holler
Marguerite Mackrell
Kelsey Mo
Jaime Muldrew
Bryce Newberry
Keri Orcutt
Rilee Robinson
Daniella Rudoy
Nicholas Serpa
Case Smith
Jakob Wastek
Robert Werner
Alexandra Wolfe

Student Speaker
Bryce Newberry