Jacqueline Moore Named Texas Professor of the Year
Jacqueline Moore was pleased to visit the famous Buddhist temple Borobodur in Indonesia after she presented a nearby lecture in 2011.
Students of Jacqueline Moore, Austin College professor of history, have long known she is a great teacher. Announced in fall 2015 as Texas Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), Jackie’s dedication and expertise obviously have been recognized by others too.
“This means a great deal to me,” Jackie said, sharing the distinction—and her gratitude—with her colleagues. “I know that I am not the only good teacher at Austin College and that I am only standing in for the rest of the faculty in this regard, but it is an honor nonetheless.”
Jackie joined the Austin College faculty in 1994 and spent the next 20+ years teaching modern U.S., African American, and Asian history. When the award was announced, social media enabled widespread congratulations—the most cherished from her former students, such as these examples:
“On behalf of those lucky enough to number among your amazing legacy of inspired minds, thank you.” – Andy Porter ’95
“I always tell people about the ‘in-class’ history education I received and then how we all went abroad during JanTerm to actually see everything we learned about. Very deserving. Congratulations, Ms. Texas Professor of the Year!” – Martin Tijmes ’03
She posed with students from her 2014 JanTerm course after elephant rides in Laos near the UNESCO city of Luang Prabang. She and 14 students explored the area during her “Empires and Revolutions: Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia” course.
Criteria for selection for the prestigious honor included scholarly approach to teaching and learning; contributions to undergraduate education in the institution, community, and profession; and support from colleagues and current and former students. At Austin College, to be nominated for the award is in itself a teaching award—one of three announced each academic year.
“This honor feels like the cherry on top of my academic career, and I couldn’t ask for better recognition of my years of teaching,” Jackie said. “As I move into my career as a public diplomacy officer in the Foreign Service, I hope to be able to promote quality education on a global scale. While I won’t be teaching directly, I can help other teachers get training they need and promote international educational exchanges like the Fulbright Fellowship that helped re-energize my own teaching.” She spent the 2010-2011 academic year as a Fulbright Scholar, teaching American history in Hong Kong.
The professor credits Austin College with providing the leadership experience that qualified her for this career move. “For many years I have been preaching that a liberal arts education can best prepare our students to adapt to changing situations and careers, as well as to find solutions to the complex problems of the 21st century,” Jackie said. “Part of what made it possible for me to join the Foreign Service was my liberal arts experience. Among the core values of the Foreign Service are character, service, community, and diversity—all values nurtured in a liberal arts environment. This is definitely a new path for me now, but I move on confident that I will succeed (if I can only learn Chinese!).”