Gill receives USM “Excellence in Teaching” honor

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s Dr. Cynthia Gill received an “Excellence in Teaching” award and a $2,000 prize from the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents. Honorees exemplify excellence in five categories: Public Service; Scholarship, Research or Creative Activity; Mentoring; Teaching; and Innovation. The Department of Physical Therapy professor was described in her recommendation as someone who “has excelled in the classroom, demonstrating a deep and abiding commitment to rigorous and innovative teaching.” Gill teaches gross anatomy (advanced human anatomy), analysis of human movement (kinesiology / biomechanics) and medical imaging for physical therapists.

“It’s very humbling and gratifying to be recognized for something … I take very seriously and am continuously attempting to improve upon – and have spent the majority of my professional life doing,” Gill said.

The 2019 Maryland legislature created the Md. Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate the state’s history of vigilante acts between 1854 and 1933. The University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s Dr. Marshall Stevenson Jr., dean of the historically black university’s School of Education, Social Sciences, and The Arts, was selected as a member of the panel tasked with producing a report addressing how the state should publicly reconcile at least 40 known murders. The last known lynching in Maryland chronicled by newspaper accounts took place in Princess Anne. The panel must submit an interim report to the legislature and governor by September 2020. A final report is due December 2021.