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Appointments, Honors & Awards Metcalf Winner Fadie Coleman paves the path to STEM degrees for underrepresented and working students Teaching her first class last fall at the School of Medicine, postdoctoral associate Marianne Collard naturally had beginner’s jitters. But in Fadie Coleman, Collard found a mentor who’d taught students from college to middle and high school—and was only too happy to teach a fellow teacher. “I met with Dr. Coleman weekly, where she helped me refine my syllabus, plan class lessons, and evaluate students’ learning, providing guidance that was exceptional,” Collard wrote in a letter nominating Coleman (CAS’97, MED’16), assistant professor of medical sciences and education, for a 2021 Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching, one of Boston University’s highest teaching honors. “Perhaps Dr. Coleman’s most admirable quality,” Collard wrote, “is her advocacy for diversity and equality. As a person of color herself, Dr. Coleman understands and empathizes with struggles minority students face, which comprise the majority of the BLCS program.” BLCS is the Biomedical Laboratory & Clinical Sciences Program, a collaboration between BUSM and Metropolitan College, which offers evening classes for working students seeking bachelor’s degrees in biotechnology. It’s a gateway to STEM education—perhaps the only one—for underrepresented minorities and nontraditional students. That’s a point of pride for Coleman, who became the program’s director on joining BUSM in 2017 and knows firsthand the value of such gateways. Growing up in New Jersey without professional role models, she says that “picturing myself as a scientist did not become a reality until I met encouraging mentors, who treated me like a scientist from the very first day” at BU. A University summer internship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital exposed her to medical research. 20
Boston University School of Medicine
Senior year, she completed a career counseling survey “out of pure curiosity” and discovered a second passion: teaching. Upon graduating, she taught science in several Boston-area communities—chemistry and physical science in middle school; biology, physical science, and laboratory research in high school—and those years inform her university instruction. “My experiences working with younger students help me to quickly assess where students are,” Coleman says, “and develop effective teaching strategies for introducing new material, reinforcing content knowledge, and encouraging critical thought at appropriate levels.” She learned another valuable lesson: “to reassure my students with great confidence that they can do the work. I love engaging with the range of students that I work with because it keeps me from forgetting what it was like to be in their shoes.” During her directorship, the BLCS has awarded 59 bachelor of science degrees, with another 21 anticipated for this year. “Dr. Coleman redesigned the BLCS curriculum by integrating updated laboratory techniques, scientific writings, and streamlining the internship programs,” her department chair, Hee-Young Park, professor of medical sciences and education, wrote in her recommendation letter to the University’s Teaching Awards Committee. “The redesigned curriculum was well received by the students and she received positive evaluations from the students.” She also taught four BLCS courses herself in each semester this academic year. In addition to her BU degrees, Coleman earned a master’s from Harvard. A gift from the late Arthur G. B. Metcalf (Wheelock’35, Hon.’74), a BU Board of Trustees chair emeritus and former professor, funds the Metcalf Cup and Prize and the Metcalf Awards for Excellence in Teaching, created in 1973 as the University’s highest teaching awards. The cup and prize winner receives $10,000; the award winners, $5,000 each. A University committee selects winners
based on statements of nominees’ teaching philosophy, supporting letters from colleagues and students, and classroom observations of the nominees. n Elizabeth Hutton Receives Stanley L. Robbins Award for Excellence in Teaching Elizabeth Hutton, MD, assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics, has been recognized with BUSM’s highest teaching honor, the Stanley L. Robbins Award for Excellence in Teaching. The annual award honors an outstanding educator and acknowledges the importance of teaching skills and commitment to students and education. It was established in recognition of the exceptional teaching and devotion to students exemplified by Stanley L. Robbins, MD, former professor and chair of pathology. “Dr. Hutton is simply superb as an educator and at giving feedback,” said a BUSM colleague. “Students routinely tell me that she gives them the most detailed, specific, and actionable feedback. In addition, she is a strong advocate for our students. Whether a struggling student on service or one who excels, Dr. Hutton finds ways to support those who need help and makes time in her busy schedule to independently reach out to residency programs on behalf of applicants so that they can achieve their residency program aspirations.” Another colleague describes Hutton as demonstrating characteristics all educators should strive for—a thorough engagement in student learning, a clear sense of student expectations, the ability to provide specific feedback to learners, and a willingness to create and enact an action plan to help them improve. “Her ability to identify struggling learners in a timely fashion—and report it to course leadership along with an action plan to help that learner improve—has been invaluable in assisting our students to meet their expectations.”