Edwina L. Helton, professor of English, at Indiana University East received the Frederick Bachman Lieber Memorial Award for distinguished teaching. The award was presented by Indiana University at the Founders Day ceremony held March 29 in Bloomington.

Helton joined the faculty at IU East in 1997. Since that time, she has been named as the writing program director and created the IU East Professional Experience Program to recruit the top English and English education graduates to teach at the college level. She has also changed her technique as a teacher by utilizing podcast mini-lectures to supplement her lecture notes.

TJ Rivard, dean of the IU East School of Humanities and Social Science, said, “The Professional Experience Program (PEP) has made our graduates highly competitive when they apply to graduate schools across the country, and she is a natural for this award.  Her development of PEP as well as her work in the classroom bring her student-centered philosophy alive.  Her entire career reflects that philosophy, and her focus on students serves as a pleasant and profound reminder to me of why I am here.”

The Frederick Bachman Lieber Memorial Award was established in 1954 by Katie D. Bachman in honor of her grandson.