Erskine music professor honored by SCICU
Erskine College Associate Professor of Music Dr. James Brooks Kuykendall has received a 2012 Excellence in Teaching Award from South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (SCICU).
SCICU President and CEO Mike LeFever announced the awards at a ceremony April 10. A member of the faculty from each of 20 institutions belonging to SCICU is nominated for the award, and recipients are honored at an award dinner. Each receives a professional development grant in the amount of $3,000.
“I am honored and humbled to receive this award,” Kuykendall said. “I think it is a pity to have to single out anyone at a school in which so many give so much. We have no shortage of worthy recipients.”
SCICU’s website portrayal of the Excellence in Teaching honorees describes them as “value-centered, passionate, creative, and caring,” noting that they are “first and foremost…teachers who come to our liberal arts institutions to work one on one with students whom they also serve as advisors, mentors and friends.”
A member of the Erskine College faculty since 2006, Kuykendall, a member of the Erskine College Class of 1997, returned to his alma mater to teach after graduate work at Cornell University, where he received the Ph.D. in musicology, and several years on the faculty of Calvin College.
Kuykendall lives in Abbeville with his wife, attorney Patricia Bolen, and their two daughters.
The mission of SCICU is to support and promote the values of independent higher education in South Carolina. SCICU seeks to advance higher education through fund-raising, scholarships, research, and by facilitating collaborative activities among the member institutions.
SCICU’s biography of Kuykendall can be found on the organization’s site: http://www.scicu.org/
