The South Carolina Governor’s Professors of the Year program honors professors from public and private 2-year and 4-year institutions who have demonstrated exceptional teaching performance, scholarship, and service. Individual honorees represent the best at their, respective, institutions; individuals who transform the lives and careers of their students. By recognizing and applauding the exemplary accomplishments of faculty throughout the state, the SC Higher Education Foundation encourages their continual pursuit of excellence. In addition, the SC Governor's Professors of the Year program helps ensure that South Carolina retains its most talented and respected faculty members.

2013 SC Governor's Professors of the Year Awards

    Celebrating 25 years of honoring excellence in academic instruction and service to South Carolina students!!

Thursday, March 7, 2013

9:30 a.m.:  Press Conference with Governor Nikki Haley (State House Rotunda)

10:30 a.m.: Recognition Event (SC Commission on Higher Education)

1:00 p.m.: Awards Luncheon (USC Capstone Conference Center)

2013 SC Governor's Professors of the Year Photos

• View Press Conference Photos here: https://plus.google.com/photos/100020748621024493355/albums/5857100746082386289
• Recognition Event and Awards Luncheon Powerpoint Presentation (pdf)
  

2013 Professor of the Year for 2-year Colleges:

Joshua S. Castleberry, M.A., Academic Program Manager, Environmental Engineering Technology
Central Carolina Technical College

Joshua Castleberry’s love of the environment started at a very young age as he spent every possible minute outside catching ‘critters’. His love of the outdoors continued through high school and undergraduate school where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. His original intent was to take a job with the Department of Natural Resources as a wildlife biologist. In one of life’s little unexpected twists, a hiring freeze was in effect when he graduated. The only job he could find was a high school teaching position. In this position, he found that sharing his love of the environment and conservationist ethic in an educational setting was far more enjoyable than any job he could have ever hoped for. While teaching at the high school, Castleberry decided to further his education. He became aware of an opportunity to earn a master’s degree in his preferred field, Environmental Science. After graduating with a Master of Arts degree in Earth and Environmental Resources Management (MEERM), Castleberry began teaching at the college level where he had to ‘hit the ground running’. He started by augmenting his education and experience with certifications (including those in HAZWOPER, OSHA General Industry Outreach Trainer, Certified Erosion Prevention & Sediment Control Inspector, and a D level licensed Biological Wastewater Operator). After just two years at Central Carolina Technical College, he was promoted to program manager for the Environmental Engineering Technology Department. Under his leadership, the department’s program was moved to a distance education format and three supporting workforce development certificates were created. The new format and certificates allowed for more than doubling the number of students in the department without sacrificing the quality of education. Within his college community, Castleberry is the recycling coordinator, an active member of the Health and Wellness committee, and the go-to-guy for questions about sustainability and environment. He is also active in his local community where he serves on the Sumter Earthday committee, and the Sumter Stormwater Solutions committee. He has served as the merit badge coordinator for Troop 339’s Hornaday Weekend (a weekend dedicated to the Hornaday Award, given in scouting for scouts who focus on conservation). At the state level, he is active with the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program (NAAMP), the Environmental Education Association of South Carolina (on whose board he has served), and he is Chair for the Swamp Fox District of the Water Environment Association of South Carolina. He also serves annually as the special topics coordinator for the Envirothon. Castleberry is a dedicated family man who enjoys spending time with his wife, Cassie, and their two children, Samara and Wesley.

2013 Professor of the Year for 4-year Colleges:

Robert Jesselson, D.M.A., Professor of Music
University of South Carolina - Columbia

Robert Jesselson is a Carolina Distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina, where he teaches cello and plays in the American Arts Trio. In 2010, Dr. Jesselson was also named Mungo Distinguished Professor of the Year, the highest teaching award given by USC. He was national president of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) from 2000-2002. During his tenure as ASTA president, he initiated the National Studio Teachers Forums (2000 and 2002), started the National String Project Consortium (with sites now at 40 universities and grants of $3.1 million), and began planning for the first stand-alone ASTA national convention in 2003. He is now the Executive Director of the National String Project Consortium. Dr. Jesselson has performed in recital and with orchestras in Europe, Asia, South America and the United States, and has participated in Music Festivals at Nice (France), Granada (Spain), Santiago (Spain), Aspen (CO), Spoleto (SC), Grand Tetons (WY), and Festival Inverno (Brazil). His performance degrees are from the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, West Germany, the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Paul Katz, and from Rutgers where received the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) and he studied with cellist Bernard Greenhouse. He has been principal cello of the SC Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orquesta-Sinfónica de Las Palmas, Spain. In 1983 Dr. Jesselson was in China for a six-month residency, one of the first Western cellists to visit that country. During that time he performed as soloist, gave master classes, and taught at several conservatories (including conservatories in Beijing, Shanghai and Canton). Dr. Jesselson is former conductor of the USC University Orchestra and the Columbia Youth Orchestra. For 15 years he was the director of the USC String Project, building the program into one of the largest and most prominent string education programs in the country. His pioneering work on this program was recognized in an article in the New York Times in December 2003. ASTA awarded him the “Marvin Rabin Community Service” Award in 2009 for his work with the National Spring Project Consortium and teacher training. He is the recipient of the 2002 Cantey Award for Outstanding Faculty, the 1992 Verner Award, the 1989 SC Arts Commission Artist Fellowship, the 1995 Mungo Teaching Award, and the first SC ASTA Studio Teacher Award in 2005. Dr. Jesselson was the cello teacher at the SC Governor’s School for the Arts for 17 years. In December 2001, he led a delegation of string players and teachers to Cuba to begin professional contact with Cuban musicians. He has also taught at Sookmyung University in Korea, Sun Yat Sen University in Taiwan, University of Auckland in New Zealand, Royal College of Music in London, and recently in St. Lucia in the Caribbean. In the upcoming 2013 summer, Dr. Jesselson will be teaching cello at the Green Mountain Music Festival in Vermont and at the Cellospeak festival in Pennsylvania. He plays a 1716 Jacques Boquay cello.