Art professor to receive Chairs' Faculty Teaching Award

Anna Lemnitzer, assistant professor of art, will receive the Chairs' Faculty Teaching Award during University of Pittsburgh at Bradford Honors Convocation April 19.

The convocation will be held at 11 a.m. in the Bromeley Family Theater in Blaisdell Hall. Jeff Guterman, associate professor of broadcast communications, will be the keynote speaker. The public is welcome.

Lemnitzer directs the Pitt-Bradford interdisciplinary arts program and was nominated for the teaching honor by Guterman, who is also chair of the Division of Communication and the Arts.

Aside from her teaching, Lemnitzer also serves as the vice president of the Faculty Senate at Pitt-Bradford and chair of the Educational Policies Committee. She advises the Art Club and assists with the production of Baily's Beads, the university's award-winning student literary magazine.

Guterman said in his nomination, “While all those are important endeavors, she excels at the very most important task of challenging and engaging her students. Professor Lemnitzer has been able to strike the perfect balance: She is warm and personable, while also maintaining professionalism, poise and tact.

“Her approach has been most successful, resulting in her consistently receiving high ratings from her students.”

Lemnitzer has also infused fresh ideas into the art program. For example, last year, she collaborated with computer information systems and technology instructor Jeremy Callinan to present “Explore the World of Virtual Reality,” an exhibition that combined art in virtual reality.

In addition to challenging her students to create, she has remained dedicated to her own art. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally - in both solo and group exhibitions. She has a piece on permanent display at the University of Arizona, where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She also holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Montana.

She was recently promoted to associate professor of art, which will take effect in the fall. She is co-advisor for a new pre-professional program in art therapy and directs the academic minors in art and digital graphic design.