Chew named National Professor of the Year
Amanda Gargus
News Reporter
Last month, the Carnegie Foundation named Dr. Stephen Chew National Professor of the Year, which recognizes professors from across the country that teach at baccalaureate colleges, community colleges, doctoral and research colleges and master’s universities.
It is also the only award of its kind that recognizes professors at the undergraduate level.
Chew has been at Samford University as head of the Psychology department since 1993. During that time he has been a professor, advisor, mentor and friend to countless students, and his hard work and passion for teaching has not gone unnoticed.
Over the years Samford has had many professors, including Chew, who have been named Alabama Professor of the Year; however, Chew is the first Samford University professor to receive the national award. Chew’s passionate commitment to his students is hard to miss.
He refers to his students as “collaborators” in the field of psychology, collaborators that motivate him to be the best professor that he can be.
“Students also inspire me,” Chew said. “I have great students and I don’t want to let them down. They are expecting the best from me and they are giving me their best. I try to rise to the level of their expectations and their aspirations.”
When discussing the challenges he has faced over his tenure at Samford, his face became solemn and serious when he thought about two of his students who have passed away since he began teaching here.
While Chew is humbled and honored to receive the award, his colleagues have nothing but raving remarks about just how deserving Chew is of this award.
“In many ways, Chew represents the commitment of the members of our faculty to quality interaction between students and teachers,” President Andrew Westmoreland said. “I admire and respect Dr. Chew, and I am grateful that he chose many years ago to build his career at Samford.”
Fred Shepherd, the political science department chair, started working at Samford University the same year as Chew, and considers Chew a dear friend and colleague.
“Steve is the perfect colleague, and this opinion has never changed in the 18 plus years I’ve known him,” Shepherd said. “He’s a great teacher, an effective and collegial administrator, and an influential scholar… I think it’s great that a talented and decent person like Steve has been noticed on a national level for the work that he has done.”
Chew’s students echo these sentiments.
“I hope to have a job in academia when I have my degree,” senior psychology major Callie Gibson said. “I will probably adopt his teaching style because I felt like I learned so much without being overly stressed. Dr. Chew is one of my favorite professors at Samford.”
Although he appreciates the award Dr. Chew believes his responsibility as a professor still holds his feet to the ground.
“Teaching is a great responsibility because you are shaping the way students view the world and think about the world,” Chew said. “You can inspire them but you also run the risk of turning them off.”
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