Three Baylor Professors Designated Master Teachers

Corey Carbonara, Laine Scales and Gaynor Yancey granted University’s highest honor for teaching excellence

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WACO, Texas (Aug. 26, 2016) – Baylor University Interim President David E. Garland has announced the designation of Master Teacher – the highest honor granted to Baylor faculty members for sustained excellence in teaching – has been conferred on Corey P. Carbonara, Ph.D., professor of film and digital media, College of Arts & Sciences; T. Laine Scales, Ph.D., professor of higher education, School of Education, and associate dean of graduate studies and professional development, Graduate School; and Gaynor I. Yancey, D.S.W., professor of social work, Diana R. Garland School of Social Work.

Garland made the announcement during the annual fall faculty meeting Aug. 25 at Waco Hall.

"It is an honor and privilege to confer the lifetime Master Teacher designation upon Dr. Carbonara, Dr. Scales and Dr. Yancey. All three faculty members were unanimously recommended by the selection committee as excellent teachers, whose years of dedication and commitment to teaching and to our students have been outstanding,” Garland said. “They truly represent the transformational experience our students receive at Baylor.”

The appointments are based on the profound impact of faculty members in the classroom and on students’ lives as judged by the record of the faculty members’ achievements and the observations of the various nominators. Nominations may be made by former students of the nominated faculty member or by current or former staff, faculty or administrators personally familiar with the nominated faculty member’s record of teaching achievements and other contributions to teaching.

Master Teachers represent:
1. Knowledge and use of effective and engaging pedagogy
2. Advocacy for teaching and learning, as reflected by characteristics such as:

• a) Passion for teaching and learning
• b) Engagement of students – mentoring undergraduates and/or graduates in research, active learning classes, group work, service learning and/or community-based learning
• c) Impact beyond nominee’s own courses – e.g., curricular development, mentoring of other faculty colleagues, publications, presentations or web resources

About Corey Carbonara, Ph.D.

A pioneer in the field of high-definition television, Carbonara teaches in the department of film and digital media and serves as director of the Digital Communication Technologies Project at Baylor that researches augmented reality and new immersive visual 3D environments. He also is a Senior Research Fellow of the IC2 Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, a “think-and-do” tank for creativity and innovation.

Before beginning his teaching career, Carbonara served as Sony’s first product manager of high-definition video systems for the television and cinema industries. He taught at Baylor initially from 1983 to 1985 then rejoined the faculty in 1986. In 2013, he received the inaugural Nat Tiffen Award from the International Cinematographers Guild for Outstanding Educational Contribution to the Art and Craft of Cinematography. He speaks all over the world on a variety of leading-edge technologies, including digital content creation and distribution, digital cinematography and visual effects, the socio-economic and socio-cultural impact of media, immersive videogame environments and the creative and innovative management of technology.

Carbonara is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Iowa, where he earned a B.A. in radio/television in 1976 and his master’s degree in mass communication theory in 1980. He received his Ph.D. in radio/television/film from the University of Texas at Austin in 1989. (Read more about Carbonara here.)

“I am so humbled and blessed to be named a Master Teacher along with such incredible colleagues whom I also wish to congratulate. This indeed is such a great honor for all of us,” Carbonara said. “Knowing the legacy of great Master Teachers who have come before us, I am still overwhelmed that this honor would be given to me. To think that this recommendation comes from current and former students and faculty, once again, is such a humbling experience.

“Baylor is such a great place to teach and fosters the climate to be passionate about teaching. We have the best students, faculty and staff that constantly create this climate. Seeing our students go on after graduation and do such great things in the field is a reward in itself. To think I may have had a hand in helping them is to give glory to God since my prayer is always to ask for His Grace to allow me to try and be the best teacher I can for my students,” he said.

About Laine Scales, Ph.D.

Laine Scales joined the Baylor faculty in 1999 as assistant professor of social work, has served as associate dean in the Graduate School since 2004 and joined the School of Education in 2008, where she teaches in the Ph.D. program in higher education and leadership studies. Her teaching and administrative focus is on faculty development, including professional development of graduate students.

Through her leadership of such programs as Conyers Scholars, Baptist College and University Scholars, and Preparing our Future Faculty, Scales has mentored aspiring faculty from all disciplines as well as current faculty and administrators through the Summer Faculty Institute, Adjunct Training Institute and Baylor Seminar for Academic Leadership. She was influential in in the creation of Baylor’s Academy for Teaching and Learning in 2008, and has served continuously on its advisory board as well as on the provost’s Teaching with Technology committee.

From 2008 to 2014, Scales served as Faculty-in-Residence, living among students in Kokernot Hall and has co-directed the Baylor in Oxford summer study abroad program since 2013. She earned her B.A. in psychology and English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1983, her master’s degree in social work from the Carver School of Church Social Work at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1986, and her Ph.D. in higher education at the University of Kentucky in 1994.

“I came to Baylor in 1999 to work alongside my own teacher, Diana Garland, who had certainly mastered the skills of teaching and administration and allowed me to learn at her elbow,” Scales said. “As a new faculty member, I got to know Baylor’s Master Teachers like Bob Baird and Tom Hanks, who generously shared their wisdom and experience with novices like me. I grew to love being in the classroom with Baylor’s curious and engaged learners, but I never dreamed I would be honored with an invitation to join the esteemed group of Master Teachers.”

About Gaynor Yancey, Ph.D.

Gaynor Yancey joined the Baylor social work faculty in 1999 and also serves as director of the Center for Family and Community Ministries at the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work. Before joining the Baylor faculty, she worked for more than 25 years as a congregational community ministries director in inner-city Philadelphia and also served four years as executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Food Bank.

During her time at Baylor, Yancey has received more than $3.5 million in research and program grants with a focus on church and community collaboration on issues of social justice. She also has been honored with several awards, including Outstanding Teacher at Baylor in 2006, the inaugural Clovis A. Brantley Award for Outstanding Service in Christian Social Ministries in the United States, the Marie Mathis Award for Outstanding Life Achievement in Lay Ministry from the Baptist General Convention of Texas and Baylor, and the Lifetime Achievement award from the Texas National Association of Social Workers-Central Texas chapter. Besides teaching and her community service, she currently serves as Baylor’s Faculty Ombudsperson.

Yancey received her B.A. from East Texas Baptist University, a master’s degree in religion education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a master’s degree in social work from Temple University and her doctorate in social work from the University of Pennsylvania. (Read more about Yancey here.)

“The honor of being named as a Master Teacher at Baylor University is an extremely humbling experience,” Yancey said. “Baylor is known, historically, for having an outstanding and excellent faculty. Every day it is an honor to be in the company of such outstanding individuals who reflect not only good teaching and care for students, but also who practice the Godly principles that are the foundation for our teaching at Baylor. We are committed, as a university, to educating our men and women for worldwide service through our Christian environment.”

Yancey said she teaches students from all over the world, engaging them in the learning process as fully as possible so they can discover both God’s call on their lives and how to apply their knowledge, skills and experiences in their chosen vocations.

“They are working with vulnerable and marginalized populations and communities through community organizing, community development and community change. They are engaged in teaching others through their work as college and university educators. They are engaged as change agents through advocacy and policy development that begin to open doors of opportunity for individuals, groups, organizations and communities,” she said. “The meaningfulness of Baylor’s mission is experienced by me through the students. God has softened their hearts and refined their call, many times, to certain places in the world and to specific people groups. The integration of their caring and skills and knowledge is a direct result of the Godly principles they received at Baylor.”

About Baylor’s Master Teachers

The first of Baylor’s 26 Master Teachers – Professor Robert L. Reid, professor emeritus of history, and Professor Ann V. Miller, professor of English – were appointed in 1982.

1982
*Robert L. Reid, professor emeritus of history
*Ann V. Miller, professor of English

1990
*Emerson O. Henke, The J.E. Bush Emeritus Professor of Accounting
*Angus S. McSwain Jr., professor emeritus of law
Robert G. Packard, professor emeritus of physics
*James W. Parsons, professor of accounting

1993
Robert M. Baird, chair and professor of philosophy
*Jochem F. Burckhardt, professor of German
Tommye Lou Davis, associate professor of classics
David W. Guinn, professor of law and The Louise L. Morrison Professor of Constitutional Law
Roger E. Kirk, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Statistics
Harold W. Osborne, professor emeritus of sociology
David E. Pennington, professor of chemistry
James W. Vardaman, professor emeritus of history

2003
*F. Ray Wilson II, professor of biology
*Helen H. Ligon, emeritus professor of information systems

2004
Rachel Moore, senior lecturer of English
J. William Petty, holder of The W.W. Caruth Chair of Entrepreneurship and professor of finance
Alden Smith, professor of classics, associate dean of the Honors College and director of the University Scholars Program
William Thomas, The J.E. Bush Professor in Accounting
Bill Underwood, The Leon Jaworski Professor of Practice and Procedure at Baylor Law School (now president of Mercer University)

2005
D. Thomas Hanks Jr., professor of English at Baylor
Gerald R. Powell, The Abner V. McCall Professor of Evidence at Baylor Law School

2016
Corey P. Carbonara, professor of film and digital media, College of Arts & Sciences
T. Laine Scales, professor of educational administration, School of Education; associate dean of graduate studies and professional development, Graduate School
Gaynor Yancey, professor of social work, Diana R. Garland School of Social Work

*deceased

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.