Closing the Gap - UMUC

BREAKING
NEWS
STANLEY J. DRAZEK TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD RECIPIENTS
SCHOOL OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES
JOHN M. NEWMAN has been a faculty member since 1981 and has helped develop interdisciplinary
courses on the Vietnam War, America in the 1960s, African American and Chinese history, and,
more recently, courses on counter-terrorism and historical writing.
While teaching for UMUC–Asia in the 1980s, Newman founded the Great Issues Studies Program
in Okinawa—a program of debates, symposia, and other functions in which UMUC and the local
community participated together. He organized and led the first major American academic exchange
with the People’s Republic of China, which included a contingent of 63 UMUC students from all over
Asia who visited China.
Students have consistently expressed appreciation for Newman’s support of their learning. One student observed that Newman
was willing to guide students through intimidating readings and assignments, and that by the close of the semester, most
class members reported that they had learned a lot and enjoyed the process. Another student remarked, “Most of us wondered
how he could possibly teach us African American history. I must admit, Dr. Newman kept the class spellbound with his eloquent
lectures, [which] deepened my curiosity about African American history and gave me insight regarding the civil rights
struggle during the Kennedy administration.”
Newman’s teaching philosophy encourages students to develop skills in critical thinking and independent interpretation, and
he makes the extra effort to help students who may lack experience or academic strength.
Newman received his PhD from George Washington University in 1991.
EDWIN G. SAPP has more than 35 years of college teaching experience in technical writing, business
communications, literature, argument, computer programming, operations research, and radio wave
propagation theory. He has taught more than 90 courses at UMUC since 1993 and was ranked as
an outstanding educator, within the top 10 percent of faculty, by students in 1994, 1996, 1997,
1998, 1999, and 2000. He has served since 1999 as writing chair for all English courses under the
communications general education requirement and actively supports all new and experienced
instructors by answering questions and sharing his own resources and teaching strategies.
Sapp is a prolific writer on technical issues involving U.S. military system performance and defense
budgets. He also writes articles on stress management, effective counseling, and antique car restoration, and published a
newspaper report on a new laser surgery procedure. His numerous fiction and nonfiction pieces include articles for Night
Music, UMUC’s literary magazine.
His teaching philosophy is to provide practical, challenging, and creative opportunities for his students to “learn about things
worth knowing.” He helps students apply their growing skills to real-life events, such as interviewing for a job, building a sense
of community, and resolving problems. His warm and encouraging way of working with diverse audiences of adult learners
has drawn praise, and students have expressed their appreciation for his classes, which have helped them obtain better jobs,
promotions, or increases in pay.
12 ACHIEVER
www.umucalumni.org