The late Murray Fasken and his wife Celeste, from Midland, endowed the chair to recognize and reward outstanding teaching within the College of Liberal Arts.

Nation said he believes research and teaching go hand-in-hand.

"I have never embraced the notion that you may excel in teaching or research, but proficiency in both job profiles is not possible," he writes. "I would argue that the opposite is true - teaching and research are complements. Indeed, it is often the case that the best teachers in a discipline are also the best investigators in that discipline."

Nation came to Texas A&M University in 1974 after earning his Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma. He has published over 100 scientific articles in the area of neurotoxicology. Nation currently is working on projects that have generated more than $4.5 million in funding form the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Nation continually encourages students to be a part of his distinguished research. For the past 15 years, Nation has regularly mentored at least four undergraduate students and two graduate students each semester in his research lab.

Although he challenges his students, Nation earns some of the highest teaching evaluations. Anna Diller, a biomedical science major, describes his teaching technique for "Psychology of Learning," an upperlevel class that focused on the different theories of learning.

"Dr. Nation turned the classroom into an arena for intellectual discovery and moral growth. He would bait us with provocative issues like capital punishment, then encourage us to tear into them by independent research, moral litmus tests, and free-for-all debates with our peers. Without dictating a final solution or resolution, his Socratic method facilitated our own self-discovery."

Nation says that he never tires of teaching.

"To date, and this involves a 29-year stay at Texas A&M University, I can say I have not once had the experience of wanting to miss a class. In the vulgate of the people, I just like it. Side-by-side, the student and teacher slash their way through the chaparral of intellectual and academic life and arrive at the other end of the thicket, neither being sure who got the better deal."

He was recognized in 1984 with a college level teaching award from The Association of Former Students and in 1985 with a Teacher-Scholar Award from the Texas A&M Honors Program. In 1995 he was selected for The Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching.

The Fasken Chair is Nation's second endowed appointment. In 2001 Nation was appointed to the Ralph R. Thomas Class of '21 Professorship in Liberal Arts.

Contact:
Leanne South, ABC
Director of College Relations
College of Liberal Arts
979-845-6294
lsouth@tamu.edu