Last year Jeff Edwards was honored as a Faculty Excellence Award winner - the best of the best at Lone Star College–CyFair. This year, Edwards is considered one of the best in Texas having been named a 2007 Piper Professor.
This Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation honor is one of the most prestigious honors among Texas colleges and universities. Every Texas university, community college, or private college may nominate one professor. The foundation then selects 15 professors to receive $5,000 and the award, which is given in recognition of superior teaching at the college level.
“We are very proud of Jeff and all his accomplishments at Lone Star College–CyFair in the classroom as an economics professor and out of the classroom as a Phi Theta Kappa advisor,” said Dr. Diane Troyer, Lone Star College–CyFair president. “In addition to his Faculty Excellence Award, Jeff has earned numerous Phi Theta Kappa honors, including the society’s most prestigious Mosal Award.”
While Edwards is one of six Lone Star College System winners of the Piper Professor Awards since its inception in 1958, he is Lone Star College–CyFair’s second Piper Professor since the campus opened in 2002.
“Lightning does strike twice,” said Dr. Troyer. “And it’s very interesting to note that Jeff is actually married to the previous Lone Star College–CyFair Piper Professor recipient, Susan Edwards. Both were also founding faculty members of Lone Star College–CyFair and just this year moved to Mississippi. However, while Jeff teaches at Holmes Community College and Susan is the Director of Honors Programs at Phi Theta Kappa International, they also both still teach online courses for Lone Star College–CyFair. ”
A graduate of the University of Arkansas with his bachelor of science/bachelor of arts in Marketing and his master’s in Agricultural Economics, Jeff Edwards said he has truly enjoyed teaching for nearly three decades. He is thankful to have been the first economics teacher hired at two new community colleges, Collin County Community College (1986) and Lone Star College–CyFair (2003). Edwards said he is also grateful to Dr. Troyer and the rest of the senior management team for giving him the opportunity to teach at Lone Star College–CyFair.
“Teaching is communication at its best. You try one way, and if you don’t succeed, you try another way, there’s nothing magical about it. The challenging part is staying relevant as you age,” said Edwards, who turns 60 this fall. “What I try to do is use real world illustrations to help students understand economic principles, such as supply and demand.”
Some visual aids Edwards has used to enhance student learning are videos, various souvenirs from his travels, stuffed pigs and even a green leisure suit from the 1970s.
“I love capturing students’ minds and making them think, not to convert them to a particular position, but to think about what their position is from a logical perspective,” said Edwards.