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FSC professor receives
Ben and Janice Wade Outstanding Teaching Award

LAKELAND, Fla. (June 21, 2004) - Katherine G. Straw, FSC physical education professor, received the Ben and Janice Wade Outstanding Teaching Award during the college's spring commencement May 1. This award, established in 1997, is conferred annually upon the Florida Southern College teacher who has demonstrated outstanding classroom teaching performance, the encouragement of which was a priority of Dr. Wade during his fifteen-year tenure as Florida Southern's chief academic officer (1973-77; 85-96). 

Straw has been with Florida Southern for 28 years. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and has taught for 43 years at all levels of education -- elementary, secondary and college. She has coached various women's athletic teams including volleyball, basketball, field hockey, soccer and tennis. Wade hired Straw in 1974 as a professor of physical education, tennis coach and intramural director. 

Straw has served as professor and academic advisor in the physical education department for preparation and certification of future teachers. She is advisor to the physical education club and the Phi Epsilon Kappa honorary physical education fraternity. 


About Florida Southern College
Florida Southern is a four-year, private, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and a master of business administration degree accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Located in Lakeland, Fla., the college is home to the largest, single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world. 

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