Students and faculty peers selected Dr. Margaret Kovach and Dr. Steven Symes as recipients of the 2010 University of Tennessee Alumni Association’s Outstanding Teacher Award. The annual award is bestowed upon two faculty members who have demonstrated a passion for teaching, a commitment to their students, and a dedication to higher education.
Kovach, associate professor, biological and environmental sciences, conducts research in mammalian genomics, which is the identification and functional characterization of genes. She studies genome organization and chromatin structure and their influences on nuclear functions such as DNA replication, chromosome segregation and gene expression.
Symes, assistant professor, chemistry, has engaged in a collaborative research project funded by NASA to determine when liquid water was present on Mars. Symes worked with Dr. Lars Borg, Research Scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to conduct chronological and mineralogical studies of Martian meteorites.
Kovach and Symes were recently honored during the 2010 UTAA Board of Governors Summer Meeting in Knoxville. A portion of these awards are generated from donations from alumni and friends for the Fund for the Future. Each OTA recipient receives a $1,000 stipend award.
