Terry Papillon receives 2014 Provost’s Award for Excellence in Advising
Terry Papillon, professor of classics and director of University Honors at Virginia Tech, has received the university's 2014 Provost’s Award for Excellence in Advising.
The Provost’s Award for Excellence in Advising is given annually to a Virginia Tech faculty or staff member who serves undergraduate advisees in exemplary ways. Awardees receive a $2,000 prize and are inducted into the university’s Academy of Advising Excellence
A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1992, Papillon is regarded by both his teaching colleagues and by students to be highly committed to supporting student needs and inspiring them to succeed at the highest level.
“I have known Dr. Papillon for just over three years, and I have always found him to be honest, fair, respectful of differing opinions, inquisitive, and very hard working,” wrote Austin Larrowe, a senior University Honors student majoring in agricultural and applied economics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, in his nomination of Papillon for this award. “When speaking with other students, I hear amazing stories about him helping them overcome personal problems or how he aided them in developing a professional and academic roadmap for the remainder of their collegiate experience. His high degree of professionalism fused with compassion and empathy allows him to make a since connection which inspires both students and faculty alike.”
“Dr. Papillon has been one of the highlights of my academic career and he has been a key figure in transforming my post-secondary educational experience into something that goes beyond facts and figures, but into improved self-confidence, fortified critical thinking skills, and a vision for my future.” added Larrowe.
“What I am most thankful for is having Terry as an advisor is that his advice is not limited to things academic,” wrote Bill Bryce, a Virginia Tech graduate now a doctoral degree candidate at the University of Illinois. “Terry is a man who impressed upon me that taking compliment gracefully is just as important as taking criticism, and I will be forever grateful to him for teaching me that.”
Papillon joined the University Honors staff in 2005 and became director of the program in 2009. As director of University Honors, he leads a program that provides students with enhanced access to faculty mentoring and the tools needed to achieve a top-rated education.
Papillon teaches ancient Greek, Latin, classical civilization, mythology, and rhetoric. He regularly leads study abroad programs in Greece. He received the Diggs Teaching Scholar Award in 1997 and the Sporn Award for excellence in teaching introductory subjects in 2000.
His research specialty is Greek rhetoric, particularly the Greek rhetorician Isocrates. He has published numerous articles and two books, one in 1998 on Demosthenes and one on Isocrates in 2004. He is also editor of the online classics journal Electronic Antiquity.
Papillon received his bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
