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Thompson receives 2008 Professor of the Year award
January 8, 2009
Sharon Thompson
CONWAY -- Dr. Sharon Thompson, an Arnold School graduate and coordinator of health promotion at Coastal Carolina University, is the Governor's 2008 Professor of the Year for four-year institutions of higher education.
She was selected from among 36 candidates for the prestigious annual award, which recognizes excellence in teaching and student advising.
Each year the Governor and the S.C. Commission on Higher Education jointly sponsor two “Governor’s Professor of the Year Awards.” One is conferred on a faculty member at a public or private senior college or university. The other is conferred on a faculty member at a two-year institution of higher learning.
Each winner receives a formal citation and check for $5,000, presented during a ceremony hosted by the Governor’s office.
Thompson was born in Greenwood and grew up in Florence. She graduated from West Florence High School in 1976 and earned a bachelor's degree in plant sciences from Clemson University in 1980.
At the University of South Carolina she earned a master's degree in community education in 1982 and an educational specialist degree in educational administration in 1992. She earned a doctorate from the Arnold School’s Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior in 1993.
In 1991, Thompson joined the faculty of Coastal Carolina University, where she is professor and coordinator of health promotion. She has been a major force in the creation and development of the University's health promotion major, which was recognized in 2008 with a national award given by American's leading health education associations.
Thompson credits her parents and her late husband as role models for becoming a teacher, an advisor, and a contributing member to family and community life. The mother of two daughters and a member of the Myrtle Beach First Presbyterian Church, she was named by the Myrtle Beach Sun News as Volunteer of the Year in 2003.
She has also chaired the Waccamaw Youth Center and the Horry County School District Comprehensive Health Education Advisory Committee.
Her work as a teaching faculty member has been universally admired on the campus. Since 1998 she has received several campus awards of distinction, including the 1998 Student Affairs Award and the 2004 Distinguished Teacher-Scholar Lecturer Award. A full-time teacher and advisor to 80 students annually, she still has found time since 2001 to sponsor students at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research, (NCUR).
In 1997, she was named the South Carolina Health Professional of the Year by the South Carolina Association for the Advancement of Health Education.
She has been co-author of 20 published manuscripts and/or proceedings with students. She is also the University’s Faculty Athletic Representative and advisor for the health promotion honor society.
Students are enthusiastic and expressive about her work with them. They speak of the time she takes to listen; her constant looking for opportunities for her students to succeed; her knowledge, kindness and sincerity – and, above all, her commitment.
“As a part of a Coastal Carolina University awards ceremony,” said one of them, “I was asked, “What is the best thing about Coastal Carolina University?” Without hesitation I replied, “Dr. Sharon Thompson!”
