Throughout a remarkably consistent stretch of selfless service – civic, public, faith-based – Penelope Davies, instructor of mathematics at Amarillo College, has touched literally thousands of lives in a multitude of positive ways.

So those who stood to heartily applaud Davies at AC’s May Commencement might easily have done so in celebration of her phenomenal resuscitation of Center City of Amarillo. Or her coast-to-coast advocacy for the Association of Junior Leagues International. Or even her present-day efforts as chair of the Quality of Life Council for the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce.

This, however, was an ovation in celebration of Davies the educator, a deafening endorsement of the formal announcement that revealed Davies as the 2016 winner of AC’s highest faculty accolade: the John F. Mead Faculty Excellence Award.

“I was at a loss for words,” Davies said. “I was shocked, humbled and honored.”

And so those who stood to applaud Davies on May 13 did so in recognition of her unassailable commitment to student success and the innumerable hours she spends outside the classroom – six days a week – to lend personal assistance to students in need of extra help.

They applauded her ample contributions to the College’s course-redesign efforts in Intermediate Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus II, each aimed at incorporating more student engagement and next-level preparedness into the learning process.

They applauded Davies’ ceaseless dedication to becoming a better teacher, efforts that sparked unintended consequences – like the Faculty Excellence Award for Curricular Innovation she received in 2014, and the recommendation by her peers that Davies serve as AC’s nominee this year for a prestigious Piper Professorship.

“Penelope is always one of the first people to volunteer to help when help is needed,” said Collin Witherspoon, interim chair of the Department of Mathematics, Engineering and Physical Sciences.

“Whether it be for students, colleagues, or the College, she is devoted to serving others in whatever capacity they feel will be the most constructive,” he said.

Davies teaching career began in earnest in 1972 at Central Texas College, where she was an instructor in chemistry and physics. She and her husband moved to Amarillo in 1976, which is when she became immersed in the Junior League of Amarillo, over which she would eventually preside. She became a widely recognized expert on parliamentary procedure, bylaws, and board governance, so much so that she traveled from San Francisco to Bangor, Maine to provide trainings for Junior Leagues across the land.

She took on a huge challenge in 1999, becoming executive director for Center City of Amarillo, when the then-wobbly organization was about $25,000 in debt. She revived it, though, and by 2006 Center City had nearly $550,000 in designated reserves with which to revitalize downtown Amarillo.

Davies took a job as a tutor in AC’s Math Outreach Center in 2009, the same year the Center won a prestigious Star Award from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. By 2010, Davies was supervisor of the Math Outreach Center, and double the number of student visitations to the facility were recorded that year than the year before.

She has been a full-time and highly engaged member of AC’s mathematics faculty since 2010, yet despite her self-enforced, six-days-a-week commitment to AC students, she finds time to, among other things, teach Sunday school, voluntarily spearhead a vital committee for the Chamber of Commerce, and pitch in on Faculty Senate and a host of College committees and special assignments.

The mathematician estimates she has taught at least 5,000 students – so far – even employing the tune “Pop Goes the Weasel” to impart the Quadratic Formula.

“Penelope Davies is the type of individual that any college administrator would be fortunate to have on the faculty,” Dr. Deborah Vess, vice president of academic affairs, said. “She has consistently proven herself to be one of our top, outstanding classroom instructors.

“She is in the very top tier of student-success rate and student respect in the department,” Vess said. “She is truly a scholar in her field of studies.”

She is also self-effacing, and nobody who knows Davies even in passing is surprised when she attempts to share credit or spread joy.
 
“I so appreciate the willingness of all the instructors and professors in my department who have shared their words of wisdom, who have helped make what we do a team effort aimed at student success,” Davies said. “I am grateful that student success is the top priority of our leadership and our president.

“I have been so blessed to have been given an opportunity to be a teacher,” she said. “It has allowed me in a small way to make a difference in other peoples’ hopes and dreams, and what could be better than that?”
The John F. Mead Award ward was created in 1988 and is named after the second AC president, whose unique contributions included leading the College during the challenging 1930s and returning as a full-time member of the faculty in the 1960s. Criteria for the award are: demonstrated excellence in classroom teaching, research, service to the College, student and peer support, and professional activities.

As the 2016 recipient, Davies receives a plaque, $1,000, and a paid trip to a teaching seminar or professional meeting in the year ahead.

May 23, 2016