Andrew Eshleman, associate professor of philosophy and liberal studies in UALR’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, won the $10,000 Ted and Virginia Bailey Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching Friday night at the University’s 20th annual Faculty Excellence Awards ceremony.

Xiu Ye, professor of mathematics and statistics in the College of Science and Mathematics, won the $5,000 University Faculty Excellence Award for Research sponsored by the UALR Society of Philanthropy.

C. Fred Williams, professor of history in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, won the $5,000 University Faculty Excellence Award for Public Service sponsored by PepsiAmericas.

The awards were announced at the annual banquet – UALR’s premier event honoring the University’s outstanding faculty – in the Donaghey Student Center.

Awards of $1,000 each went to 20 faculty members, including the three big winners, all of whom had previously been selected by their peers as college-level winners for excellence in teaching, research, and public service.

Eshleman, who holds students to the highest standards of ethics and achievement, said, “If you set the bar high, not everyone will make it, but everyone will try.” In trying, students get further than if they didn’t try.

He demands the same excellence from himself that he expects from his students. To him, the profession is a constant opportunity to reach higher and achieve greater things for himself and for his students. Eshleman received a Ph.D. from the University of California-Riverside.

Ye, considered by her peers to be one of the best numerical analysts in the U.S., received her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Her specialty is applied mathematics – specifically numerical analysis – a field she says is difficult for non-mathematicians to appreciate.

“Most of the time, people don’t understand what we are doing with math,” she said. “The research is different. We’re solving problems with a pencil and paper, but our work applies to real world problems as well.”

Williams, who has a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma, works to reclaim the social, cultural, and economic history of Arkansas. By improving the standing of social studies education, he helps residents of all ages appreciate the impact the world has made on the state – and the impact Arkansas has made on the world.

“If we don’t have an understanding of what our history was, our quality of life would be so different,” Williams said. “The joy of service is simply being able to see other people enriched.”

A national panel of seven judges selected the three top winners from among the college-level winners.

Visit the 2008 Faculty Excellence website to see all the college-level winners.