See also: Dean’s Award Winners for 2024-2025
The top honors bestowed upon Campbell University faculty are the D.P. Russ Jr. and Walter S. Jones Sr. Alumni Awards for Teaching Excellence and Research Excellence. The recipients of those awards for the 2024-2025 academic year were Dr. Nicholas Pennings (teaching excellence) from the Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine and Dr. Jacqueline Gartner (research excellence) from the School of Engineering.
Excellence in Teaching
Dr. Nicholas Pennings
Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine
Dr. Nicholas Pennings was a professor of family medicine who announced his retirement this year after joining Campbell University’s Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine the year it opened in 2013.
Pennings, who is board certified in family medicine and obesity medicine, served as director of the Campbell University Health Center for over 12 years and as chair of Family Medicine for nearly a decade. He also served as the executive director of clinical education for the Obesity Medicine Association.
He was a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his family medicine residency at Parkview Hospital in Philadelphia.
“My goal was to go into teaching, to teach about nutrition and maybe have a small impact in student education,” Pennings said of his Campbell experience last December when he was honored by the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians with the 2024 Distinguished Family Physician Award. “And it (has) just far exceeded my expectations.”
Pennings has called his research into the chronic and dangerous disease of obesity “a passion.” In 2021-23, more than 40 percent of U.S. adults were obese, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Obesity, the CDC says, is associated with numerous other serious chronic diseases, including diabetes and heart disease. It also accounts for nearly $173 billion in medical expenditures.
From Dr. Michael Adams, Provost: “Dr. Pennings exemplifies the highest standards of instructional excellence at Campbell University. We’re very sad to see him retire this year and leave us full-time, but we’re excited to recognize him.”
From former NCAFP President Dr. Garett Franklin: “Dr. Pennings’ greatest achievements come from molding the next generation of physicians, particularly family physicians.
From a student: “One can tell he genuinely cares about our well-being and wants to see us all succeed. He has all the qualities of a great educator, sets a great example and, above all else, deeply cares for his students and patients.”
Excellence in Research
Dr. Jacqueline Gartner
School of Engineering
Dr. Jacqueline Burgher Gartner is an associate professor at the Campbell University School of Engineering. She completed her Ph.D. in chemical engineering in 2017 from Washington State University, where she was an NSF Integrated Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Fellow, and a Teaching Fellow for the Voiland School of Engineering where she received the Graduate and Professional Student Association Award of Excellence for her teaching in 2015.
As part of her doctoral research, Gartner helped commercialize miniaturized hands-on units for classroom use, and was the primary editor on the undergraduate text that accompanies the fluid mechanics and heat transfer units.
According to Dr. Ana Rynearson, assistant professor for the School of Engineering, Gartner has “led the vanguard for research” in the School of Engineering. She led the development of the successful NSF S-STEM grant proposal, winning the third National Science Foundation grant that Campbell had been awarded and the first in nearly thirty years. As part of this award, she worked with the university administration and the newly-formed Office of Sponsored Research and Programs to ensure the appropriate policies and procedures existed to support an NSF-sponsored project.
Gartner brought a second NSF-sponsored project to Campbell, bringing nearly $1 million to Campbell through nationally-funded projects. She has continued to lead the way in scholarship, mentoring fellow faculty Allison Lee in writing her first Scholarship of Teaching and Learning conference paper for the American Society of Engineering Education 2024 Conference & Exposition. Gartner has also mentored five students.
From Rynearson’s nomination letter: “Outside of her leadership at Campbell, Dr. Gartner has been at the forefront of classroom-focused research, developing novel laboratory equipment to enhance student understanding of transport phenomena in undergraduate heat transfer and fluids courses. Over fifty institutions have been engaged in the project; Dr. Gartner has assisted with the design and development of the physical equipment, laboratory procedures, a workbook to support these classroom activities, professional development workshops and YouTube videos to support faculty use of the equipment, and journal and conference publications to share the project and its findings. Three journal articles have been published related to this project since Dr. Gartner began working at Campbell University. One of these articles is in the International Journal of Engineering Education, one of the top three journals in the field of engineering education. Dr. Gartner is a leader in the field of chemical engineering educational research and methods.”
The aim of the D.P Russ Jr. and Walter S. Jones Sr. Alumni Awards is to give faculty members from across the university campus — both graduate and undergraduate — a chance to recognize the good work and outstanding achievements of their colleagues.
Winners were presented with a trophy and a $500 award at the Faculty/Staff Orientation on Aug. 14. Members of the Faculty Development and Research Committee included: Allison Lee (chair), Sherryl McLaughlin, Georgia Martin, Anthony Mendez, Tim Marks, Cathy Daniels, Barry Jones, Melissa Essary, LeJon Poole and Katherine Van Allen.