The Faculty Merit Foundation announced that Professor Erin Goodykoontz, of West Virginia University, is the winner of the foundation’s 2023 Professor of the Year award.
The foundation presented the award April 10, during a banquet in the Great Hall of the Culture Center in Charleston. Four Professor of the Year finalists also were recognized: James J. Broomall, associate professor of history at Shepherd University; Leighann Justice Davidson, associate professor of criminal justice at West Virginia State University; Donna J. Long, professor of humanities at Fairmont State University; and Zelideth Marie Rivas, professor of modern languages at Marshall University.
Goodykoontz is a teaching professor at WVU’s School of Mathematical and Data Sciences. In 2001, she earned bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and computer science from Wheeling Jesuit University.
Goodykoontz received her master’s degree in mathematics as well as her doctoral degree of education from WVU in 2003 and 2008, respectively.
She began her career at WVU as a teaching assistant professor and teaching associate professor. In her first two roles, she taught Introduction to Math Concepts and Applied Calculus and was the coordinator for both courses, responsible for researching, altering and updating the curriculum. As teaching professor, Goodykoontz serves as lead instructor for the Applied Calculus course and maintains her position as course coordinator for Introduction to Math Concepts.
Goodykoontz is an active participant in institutional committees at WVU. She is the faculty associate for the STEM Learning Community, which she was tasked to create and organize, and has been awarded the distinction to maintain this role for the last four academic years. She also serves on the university’s Calculus Advisory Committee; Communication Committee; Assessment Committee; and Work-Life Balance Committee.
In 2020, Goodykoontz was elected a representative of WVU’s Faculty Senate.
Goodykoontz has been published in a variety of conference proceedings and education-based publications.
She has been awarded numerous grants over the years to promote and encourage the pursuit of mathematics.
In addition to the 2023 Professor of the Year honor, Goodykoontz has been presented with the WVU Foundation’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year award (2023) and the WVU Eberly College Outstanding Teacher award (2022).
The Faculty Merit Foundation was created in 1984 to provide a means to recognize and reward innovation and creativity among the faculties of West Virginia’s public and private colleges and universities. A $10,000 cash award is given to the candidate selected as Professor of the Year, with smaller awards to the other finalists.
