The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching recently selected Assistant Professor Heidi Elmendorf of Georgetown’s biology department as a 2003-04 Carnegie Scholar. The Carnegie Scholars Program annually unites 26 leading faculty in higher education to share and create new models for teaching and student learning.

As a member of the fifth class of Carnegie Scholars, Elmendorf will spend two summer sessions with other Carnegie Scholars at the Foundation in Menlo Park, Calif. She will also individually explore issues surrounding teaching and learning in a liberal education setting. During the course of the next year, Elmendorf will undertake a project aimed at deepening understanding of and experience associated with an important issue in the fields of icrobiology and Parasitology. During the academic year, Elmendorf will also have numerous opportunities to present work at professional conferences, take part in various workshops and collaborate on projects with past Carnegie Scholars.

“I am most grateful for this opportunity to work with a community of other scholars from around the country,” Elmendorf said in an April 11 press release.

Jane McAullife, Dean of the College, congratulated Professor Elmendorf.

“Becoming part of this distinguished group of scholars enables her to make yet another important contribution to the practice and profession of teaching in higher education,” cAullife said.

Two former Carnegie Scholars, including Georgetown English professor, Randy Bass, will act as Carnegie Lead Scholars. Bass, a 1998-99 Carnegie Scholar, along with William Cerbin from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, will provide guidance to the 2003-04 scholars.

The program, which focuses on liberal arts education, was created in 1998 by the Carnegie Foundation. Founded in 1905 by Andrew Carnegie, the Carnegie Foundation was chartered by an act of Congress a year later. The Scholars Program is just one of the Carnegie Foundation’s many programs to further the profession of teaching and learning.