FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - October  21, 2004
CONTACT: Sarah Lingenfelter, Media Relations (585) 567-9559

HOUGHTON PROFESSOR HONORED FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING

HOUGHTON, N.Y. – Cynthia Symons, professor of psychology, is the recipient of Houghton College’s annual Excellence in Teaching Award, sponsored by the Independent College Fund of New York and funded by the Energy East Foundation, Inc.

The award supports undergraduate education by recognizing excellence in teaching and by rewarding outstanding teachers. Symons is one of just eight faculty members in the state recognized for making a positive contribution to the teaching climate at their respective colleges.

Ron Oakerson, academic vice president and dean of the college, presented the award at a recent chapel service. He commented that, “Dr. Symons is not only a scholar; she is a scholar-servant in the distinctively Houghton sense. She serves her church and her community as well as her students.”

Symons has taught at Houghton since 1994. She is a certified trainer in conflict management and teaches a course on this subject each year. Currently she is completing requirements for ordination in the Church of the Nazarene while serving as an assistant in her home church in Olean, N.Y., taking a major responsibility for preaching the Word.  

She is a member and has presented research projects, along with her students, at conferences of the American Psychological Society and the Eastern Psychological Association. She has served as reviewer for the journals of the Psychological Bulletin and Personality and Social Psychological Bulletin.

Prior to coming to Houghton College, Symons taught at St. Bonaventure University, Syracuse University, and Utica College. She has published numerous articles and enjoys a national reputation in the statistical technique of meta-analysis. Symons earned her bachelor’s from Utica College where she graduated Summa Cum Laude and her master’s and doctorate from Syracuse University.

Houghton professors who have received this award in the past include: Claity Massey, Duane Saufley, Paul Young, Jake Jacobson, Carl Schultz, Charles Bressler, Cameron Airhart, Rhea Reed, Jean Reigles, Daryl Stevenson, John Tyson, Bernie Piersma, Dan Woolsey and Ted Murphy.