Twenty-one faculty members in The University of Missouri-Rolla School of Materials, Energy and Earth Resources (SoMEER) received teaching awards during a ceremony on campus April 14.

SoMEER is home to ceramic engineering, metallurgical engineering, geological engineering, petroleum engineering, geology, geophysics, mining engineering and nuclear engineering programs at UMR. The three departments in SoMEER are materials science and engineering, geological sciences and engineering, and mining and nuclear engineering.

Dr. Curt Elmore, assistant professor of geological sciences and engineering, and Dr. David Wronkiewicz, associate professor of geological sciences and engineering, are co-winners of the 2004-2005 SoMEER Dean’s Award for Innovation in Teaching. The winners split a $1,000 cash award.

Elmore was chosen for his "International Engineering and Design" course, which has prompted several students to travel to Guatemala on UMR sponsored field trips. In Guatemala, faculty and students help improve health conditions by drilling wells and collecting information about water quality. The most recent trip was in March during spring break.

Wronkiewicz was chosen for his innovative teaching of applied geochemistry. Each semester, Wronkiewicz’s students select a hands-on research topic that is conducted in the field, the laboratory and the classroom.

In addition to being selected as a co-winner of the Dean’s Award for Innovation in Teaching, Wronkiewicz was one of 20 Sustained Excellence in Teaching Award winners. All of the award winners were determined by the SoMEER Committee for Excellence in Teaching, based on student and faculty nominations.

The other 19 winners of the 2004-2005 SoMEER Sustained Excellence in Teaching Award, which does not include a cash award, are:

– Dr. Richard Brow, Curators’ Professor and chair of materials science and engineering
– Dr. Jeffrey Cawlfield, associate chair and professor of geological sciences and engineering
– Dr. Shari Dunn-Norman, associate professor of geological and petroleum engineering
– Dr. William Fahrenholtz, assistant professor of materials science and engineering
– Dr. Larry Grayson, chair and professor of mining and nuclear engineering
– Dr. Greg Hilmas, associate professor of materials science and engineering
– Dr. Leonard Koederitz, Curators’ Teaching Professor of geological sciences and engineering
– Dr. Ronald Kohser, associate professor of materials science and engineering
– Dr. Robert Laudon, associate dean of SoMEER and professor geological sciences and engineering
– Dr. Scott Miller, associate professor of materials science and engineering
– Dr. Rajiv Mishra, associate professor of materials science and engineering
– Dr. Gary Mueller, associate professor of mining and nuclear engineering
– Dr. Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe, associate professor of geology and geophysics
– Dr. Mathew O’Keefe, associate professor of materials science and engineering
– Dr. Kent Peaslee, associate professor of materials science and engineering
– Dr. J. David Rogers, Hasselmann associate professor of geological sciences and engineering
– Dr. Robert Schwartz, professor of materials science and engineering Dr. Jeffrey Smith, associate professor of materials science and engineering
– Dr. David Van Aken, associate dean of SoMEER and professor of materials science and engineering
– Dr. Paul Worsey, professor of mining and nuclear engineering.