The Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation annually honors ten professors in Texas colleges and universities for outstanding achievement in the teaching profession. Begun in 1958, the roster of Piper Professors includes outstanding professors from two and four-year colleges and universities, public and private.
The purpose of this award is to give recognition to teaching rather than to scholarship, research, publication, or administration. The Texas A&M University at Galveston is permitted to submit one nomination each year and being nominated alone is a prestigious honor. The Minnie Piper Stevens Foundation encourages wide participation in the selection of nominees. The academic leadership team, under the direction of the Chief Academic Officer, coordinates the nomination process for Texas A&M University at Galveston with an October submission deadline each year, and the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation will issue award notification the following spring in May.
Each award includes an honorarium and a plaque designating the recipient as a "Piper Professor". All faculty members who hold current appointments and have had at least five years of full-time workload assignment at Texas A&M University at Galveston are eligible to apply or be nominated.
Dr. Bernd Wursig, Marine Biology, 2010