SPECIAL TO THE REPORTER

During Jefferson State Community College&8217;s recent 2006 Honor&8217;s Program, English Instructor Dr. Mary Kaiser was presented the Outstanding Faculty Award.

&8220;Both her students and our faculty know Mary is most worthy of this award,&8221; said JSCC president Judy Merritt.

&8220;She shares an attribute with all master teachers &8230; she enjoys learning about new things in and out of her academic field.&8221;

Kaiser holds a doctorate degree in English from the University of Denver and a master&8217;s degree in English from the University of Detroit. She also graduated magna cum laude from Marygrove College with a bachelor&8217;s in chemistry.

During her tenure at Jefferson State, Kaiser has served as assistant chair for the communications division.

She has also been instrumental in founding the Red Mountain Reading Series, a forum that brings prominent writers to campus to read their work and discuss writing with students.

Kaiser is an accomplished poet whose works have appeared in The Cincinnati Review and The Birmingham Poetry Review, among other journals.

She has reviewed many poetry collections for World Literature Today.

Additionally, she is the recipient of two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Her goal is to make literature and writing a &8220;living&8221; art that is relevant to the lives of her students.