"When I found out about the fellowship, it was just a feeling of 'wow'," said Phillips, who was surprised by the news. "It is truly special to be joining so many other wonderful educators. I don't feel like I belong in their company."
But his track record of teaching awards suggests he certainly does belong to this group. Phillips joined the U of S in 1996 and quickly made his mark by earning teaching awards in his first year, and every year after, including college-specific awards, university-wide awards and student-selected awards. He received the university's highest teaching honour, the Master Teacher Award, in 2005-06, becoming one of the youngest recipients ever. More recently, he was selected as the inaugural winner of the Provost's Award for Outstanding Innovation in Learning in 2010.
3M Canada and the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education selected Phillips based on his excellence in teaching, mentorship and research in the area of teaching and learning. Across Canada, only 10 teachers receive this award each year.
"Throughout his career, Dr. Phillips has earned a reputation as an outstanding teacher, mentor, and researcher—institutionally, nationally and internationally, both in the field of accounting and outside of it," said Brett Fairbairn, provost and vice-president academic. "This recognition is a tremendous achievement for Fred and reflects his commitment to teaching excellence, his colleagues and most importantly, his students."
Now that he has received Canada's highest teaching honour, Phillips said there is only one thing left to do, keep on getting better. "I always see room for improvement. I have so many incredible colleagues at the university, that I feel like I need to continually get better just to catch up to them," said Phillips. "Getting awards was never my target outcome, but it does signal that I chose the right career."
This is the eighth 3M Fellowship for the U of S since the award's inception in 1986. Phillips joins previous U of S winners: Baljit Singh, professor of veterinary biomedical sciences in 2009, Ernie Walker, professor of archaeology in 2007, John Thompson, professor of sociology in 2005, Rick Schwier, professor of curriculum studies in 2005, Len Gusthart, professor of kinesiology in 2002, Mel Hosain, professor of civil engineering in 1994 and Ron Marken, professor of English in 1987.
Phillips will be presented with the fellowship at the annual STLHE conference hosted at the U of S June 15-18, 2011.
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For more information or to arrange an interview, contact:
Kris Foster
University of Saskatchewan
Phone: 306-966-1806 or 306-966-5905
Email: kris.foster@usask.ca
U of S professor receives prestigious 3M National Teaching Fellowship
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Feb. 15, 2011 2011-02-06-OTHER U of S professor of accounting Fred Phillips has received the 3M National Teaching Fellowship—the highest teaching honour in Canada.