Texas A&M President Robert M. Gates initiated the award in 2003 to underscore the importance of teaching at a major research university. The "presidential professor" designations are retained by recipients for the duration of their teaching careers.

Kenimer has been a member of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering since 1993. Bergbreiter, who joined the Texas A&M faculty in 1974, holds appointments in chemistry and materials science and engineering.

Dr. John L. Crompton, who holds the rank of Distinguished Professor of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Sciences, and Professor of Construction Science Robert O. Segner, Jr., were named runners-up for the prestigious honor and each will receive $10,000 cash awards.

"A great university has great teachers," Gates noted, adding, "Texas A&M has some of the finest, and we want to recognize them."

Texas A&M has for many years had numerous awards for teaching, with many of them funded by The Association of Former Students.

"Even so, I believe Texas A&M University itself must make a stronger statement about the importance of teaching," he said, noting that was why the presidential professorships were established.

Nominations for the professorships are made annually by each of the university's 10 colleges, the Center for Teaching Excellence, Student Government and the Graduate Student Council, with each entity making one nomination. The Faculty Senate reviews the list and narrows it to four faculty members, and the president then makes the final selections.

All four of this year's honorees have previously been presented The Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching at various times.

Kenimer, a 2005 finalist for the Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence Award, received the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers 2001 A. W. Farrall Young Educator Award and was also one of 12 teachers selected to participate in the National Case Study of Learner-Centered Approaches in Colleges of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, a USDA-funded program to study exceptional teachers. She also received the Vice Chancellor for Agriculture and Life Sciences Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2005.

In a nominating letter, a former student, now a project engineer with Melden & Hunt Inc., wrote, "Ann has been an amazing friend and inspiration for over 12 years. I strongly believe that I would not be a professional engineer and professional geoscientist if I had not met Ann as a student. Ann is the type of professor who leads by example and relates to the students. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences should make a mandatory class for all upcoming college professors to take: 'Ann Kenimer 101, Introduction to Excellence in Teaching.' . . .. She is very much in tune with the struggles her students face every day, making it a point to help and get to know every one of her students."

Prof. Bergbreiter, who holds the Eppright Professorship in Undergraduate Teaching Excellence, has received The Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching at both the college and university levels and is a recipient of the Exxon Education Foundation Award and the ARMCO Mentorship Award.

A former student, in a letter supporting Bergbreiter's nomination, wrote, "I can appreciate now more than ever that he challenged me so much and that his expectations of me were so high, and I have seen how my own expectations of myself have been heightened by this. Dr. Bergbreiter knows how to draw success out of students by asking more of them than they think they are capable of and then making himself available for assistance and guidance so that, with effort and diligence, the students may discover a truer sense of their own aptitude. He does not accept mediocrity and in that, brings a certain inspiration for the students to value their work and abilities."

Texas A&M
University Relations