Newberry College Professor Receives Teaching Award

Newberry College Professor of Biology Dr. Bret Clark was one of 20 faculty selected from the member institutions of the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (SCICU) for recognition at the organization’s 11th annual Excellence in Teaching awards dinner on April 12.  Each award recipient received a $3,000 professional development grant from SCICU.

Clark teaches general biology, microbiology, virology, zoology and immunology at Newberry College. He also teaches courses within Newberry’s inquiry-based General Education core, including the perennially popular “Microbe Hunters.”

Clark joined the Newberry College faculty in 1995 after earning his Ph.D. in microbiology from the Medical College of Georgia. He holds a B.S. in biology from Furman University.

Clark frequently has been lauded by Newberry College for his teaching abilities. He has twice been awarded both the Boyd Professorship for Teaching Excellence (2007, 2010) and NCSGA Professor of the Year (1997, 2010). He also has been awarded the W.C. “Billy” Carter Professorship in the Liberal Arts and Sciences (2001-2004).

Clark has served for more than a decade as the state director of the South Carolina High School Science Olympiad. He has been involved with multiple faculty committees and has been elected by his peers to such pivotal committees as the Academic Core Committee (serving as chair), multiple terms on the Tenure and Promotion Committee and, most recently, the steering committee for the College-wide Program Prioritization Process.

“Bret is the quintessential, over-worked faculty member,” said Dr. Timothy Elston, Newberry College vice president for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College. “He is called upon so frequently because he is reliable, thoughtful and able to get the job done. Whatever his other commitments may be, however, his teaching always comes first. This is the quality that makes Bret such a great teacher and mentor.”