Honoring Excellence

TAI Professor, Suzanne Larkin was nominated for the HOPE (Honoring Our Professors of Excellence) Award by Grayson Gilcrease. The ceremony took place on February 3, 2015 and was held in Residential Commons. Ms. Gilcrease was a student in Professor Larkin’s ADV 3391 Creative Production class in the Fall of 2013. Professor Larkin describes this nomination as, “feelinLarkin, Suzanneg more than normal humility by this honor. Without the effective mentoring I have received from other faculty in TAI, I doubt this honor would have come my way. The leadership and support at TAI is unlike any University I have been an educator.” Ms. Gilcrease stated that she had nominated Professor Larkin because many of the skills and concepts she had learned in Creative Production were applicable to her everyday life. Professor Larkin’s teaching methods are both “exploration and utilization of various styles to spark critical thinking and generate enjoyment; ie. Let’s have fun while we’re eating our vegetables. For instance, by flipping the Creative Production classroom, students are not passively observing their learning but are more primed through experiential engagement. Since many of my students are visual learners, I believe in in-class visual referencing and relevant project work that takes them out into the world to developed abilities beyond their expectations.” It is clear that Professor Larkin is truly an inspiration in and outside the classroom and TAI is honored to have her as member of our faculty.

Please join the Temerlin Advertising Institute in congratulating Professor Suzanne Larkin on this exciting nomination.

TAI Faculty Member Receives 2014 HOPE Award

Cheryl Mendenhall receives 2014 HOPE Award
Cheryl Mendenhall receives 2014 HOPE Award

Cheryl Mendenhall, Senior Lecturer and Program Director for the Graphic Design Minor within the Temerlin Advertising Institute, has been selected to receive a 2014 HOPE (Honoring Our Professors of Excellence) award. She will be honored at the 17th annual HOPE Banquet, along with other HOPE award recipients, on Wednesday, February 12, 2014.

Since 1997, student staff members in SMU’s Department of Residence Life and Student Housing nominate and select approximately fifty SMU faculty members to receive the annual HOPE award. Award recipients are named through student staff member nominations as professors who “have made a significant impact to our academic education both inside and outside of the classroom.”

Temerlin Advertising Institute faculty members that have received the HOPE Award in the past include Dr. Carrie La Ferle, Director of Graduate Studies & Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor (2013), Dr. Alice Kendrick, Professor (2009), and David Hadeler, Executive-in-Residence (2008 & 2007).