Alcamo's Fundamentals of Microbiology, Ninth Edition

Carski Foundation Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award

Published in ASM News, Volume 3, Number 2

Jeffrey Pommerville, PhD., Professor of Biology and Microbiology at Glendale Community College, Glendale, AZ, is honored with the Carski Foundation Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award. This award, which has been supported by the Carski Foundation since 1968, honors an educator for outstanding teaching of microbiology to undergraduate students.

Pommerville, who earned his PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has been on the faculty at Glendale Community College since 1989. He has served as full professor since 1994.

This highly respected teacher has taught, mentored, and encouraged hundreds of students in their introduction to microbiology. In 2003, he received the Ohaus Award for Innovations in Science Teaching from the National Science Teachers Association.

In 2006, he was honored as Instructor of the Year at Glendale Community College for exceptional instruction and mentoring.

Pommerville has devoted considerable time and energy to working across the disciplines in science and math to develop a more integrated approach to science education. His dedication in this area garnered a three-year $1.1 million Systemic Reform in Science grant from the National Science Foundation, which funded the coordination of math and science faculty at Maricopa Community Colleges to design and implement interdisciplinary science teaching across 10 colleges.

Pommerville also has served in numerous teaching leadership roles for the Maricopa Community Colleges District, including as Faculty Development Coordinator and as Representative to the Howard Hughes Undergraduate Biological Science Education Program. He is a frequent contributor to science education journals and textbooks and is author of Alcamo's Fundamentals of Microbiology, one of the leading textbooks in microbiology, as well as Laboratory Fundamentals of Microbiology.

Pommerville is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Association of Biology Teachers, and the National Science Teachers Association. He is also a member of the ASM, for which he is a former chair and current advisor for the Undergraduate Education Division.

Pommerville was nominated by Marie Panec, Professor of Microbiology, Moorpark College, Moorpark, CA.

If you are looking for a text for non-majors, this is an engaging text that is perfect for today's students as well as instructors. It incorporates pedagogy throughout the text in the form of Microfocus Boxes, Textbook Cases, and MicroInquiries. These boxes contain contemporary topics and concepts that promote discussions in the classroom. The end of each chapter includes a review of the key concepts, chapter objectives and self-test quizzes and application questions. The writing style of Jeffrey Pommerville is engaging, concise and contemporary, fitting the needs for nonmajors. The approach of the text is great for new instructors as well as seasoned ones. Overall, the text provides the information that students needs to know, along with clear and concise objectives. I recommend this text with no reservations! It is an awesome text!

Teri Shors
University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh