Dr. Ava Morrow Research Paper

Dr. Ava Morrow
Dr. Ava Morrow is a person worthy of being nominated and recognized for an HBCU Alumni Award for the category of education or community involvement because her training as a microbiologist has afforded her the opportunity to train and encourage high school students and college students to be the next generation of STEM professionals. Her work as a faculty member began as a teaching assistant in the biology department at Gallaudet University and ended with the rank of Full Professor of Microbiology by the time she retired in 2013. She loved her work and was dedicated to students and the learning process. During her tenure at the university she taught courses in Human Biology, General Microbiology, Pathogenic Microbiology, Physical
She also worked with Dr. Tammy Weiner and a working group to design the initial plans for the development of on-line courses at the university. In addition to these contributions, Dr. Morrow’s contribution to student success was one of her top priorities. Some people are born teachers and Dr. Morrow is one of those persons. She never taught because it provided her employment but instead she taught because she loved students and she loved teaching as a profession. She organized study and review sessions for students in the evenings on a consistent basis. She stayed at school two nights a week to offer additional evening office hours. In addition to the regularly scheduled two nights per week, she would meet students for evening office hours whenever requested by the student. She also had an interesting mandated policy for students who were not performing well in her class. They were required to come to meet with her once a week to ensure they understood the assignments and materials covered in
Morrow’s professional contributions have been and continue to be filled with a desire to help students as well as focused on mentoring young professionals. During her tenure at Gallaudet she was involved in mentoring junior faculty, teaching assistants and student laboratory teachers. Her desire to nurture and help young people continued into her retirement as she is now serving as a STEM Program Director for the DC Metropolitan area HBCU Alumni Alliance. Objectives of the STEM workshop are to provide opportunities for the students to conduct experiments with graduates of HBCUs who are currently working in STEM-related occupations. In addition, the students have an opportunity to talk to the scientists to learn more about their STEM profession and to develop mentoring opportunities. This program has received broad acclaim and praise for the variety of STEM areas covered, the quality of the