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Dr. Dee Silverthorn Receives Outstanding Alumna Award from Tulane University

We would like to report that our own Dr. Dee Silverthorn, a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences, has received an Outstanding Alumna Award from her alma mater, Tulane University (press release is below).

Dee Silverthorn Dee Silverthorn


Tulane University Press Release:

Noted Physiologist Dee Unglaub Silverthorn receives Outstanding Alumna Award from Tulane's Newcomb Alumnae Association

(New Orleans, LA)

The Newcomb Alumnae Association at Tulane University is proud to announce the winner of the 2011 Outstanding Alumna Award as Dee Unglaub Silverthorn (NC'70). Dr. Silverthorn is an accomplished author, scholar and educator with over thirty years of experience in the biological sciences. Dee has received numerous teaching awards and honors, including the 2009 Outstanding Undergraduate Science Teacher Award from the Society for College Science Teachers, the American Physiological Society's Claude Bernard Distinguished Lecturer and Arthur C. Guyton Physiology Educator of the Year, as well as multiple awards from the University of Texas at Austin, including the Burnt Orange Apple Award. The award will be presented at the Newcomb College Institute's Under the Oaks ceremony, an event that honors graduating senior women, student and faculty award recipients, and the Newcomb College Class of 1961, who gather to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their graduation.

Current undergraduate students may know her as the author of a popular physiology textbook, Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach, or as a Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences at UT-Austin. But her fellow Newcomb College alumnae may best recall Dr. Silverthorn as a leader on campus, from serving as student body president her senior year to her performances in the a cappella choir. Yet in spite of her busy schedule, Dee still found time to pursue her passion for science, serving as a research assistant and writing her senior honors thesis with Dr. Richard Mills, then the insect physiologist who taught the course at Tulane. She based her research on "the ubiquitous cockroaches that roam the campus," she says.

Flash-forward a few years, and another Tulane physiologist has taken note of Dee's contributions. Professor and Chairman of Tulane School of Medicine's physiology department Dr. Gabriel Navar nominated Dr. Silverthorn for the Outstanding Alumna Award, and says while she is accomplished in her profession, it is her character that strengthens her work. "Dee is a unique individual with an effervescent and vivacious personality and genuine unselfish commitment to excellence in education. Being around Dee just makes one feel better, " says Navar. Students seem to echo this sentiment, as Silverthorn has noted, because her 8 a.m. class of 200 students is a noisy place with 90% attendance, an almost unheard-of feat in undergraduate education.

In addition to her teaching, Dee is an active member of the American Physiological Society, where she recently completed six years as editor-in-chief of the journal, Advances in Physiology Education. She works with colleagues nationally and internationally to improve physiology education through workshops and conferences. She spends her free time creating multimedia fiber art and enjoying the Texas hill country with her husband, Andy, and their dogs.

About the Newcomb Alumnae Association: The Newcomb Alumnae Association has over 23,000 members worldwide. The mission of the NAA is to strengthen personal, collegiate and professional connections among its members. The Association honors the legacy of the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College by supporting undergraduate women's education at the Newcomb College Institute and Tulane University. For more information about the NAA and the Newcomb College Institute, visit us online at tulane.edu/newcomb-alumnae.

Contact:
Aidan Smith
External Affairs Officer
Newcomb College Institute
1326 Audubon Street
New Orleans, LA 70118

(504) 865-5539
asmith41@tulane.edu


 

 

 

Posted by Steve Franklin

 

Bio Sci students