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2012 DISTINGUISHED FACULTY |
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ALLAN FORSMAN, Ph.D
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Dr. Allan Forsman, an associate professor in the Department of Health Science, is the recipient of the 2012 Distinguished Faculty Award in Teaching. Dr. Forsman earned his baccalaureate degree in biological science at the University of North Dakota and his graduate and doctoral degrees at the University of North Dadkota School of Medicine. Prior to his arrival at ETSU, he held a teaching position at Utica College in New York and served as a laboratory manager/radiation officer in BioServe Space Technologies at the University of Colorado. Dr. Forsman previously held a faculty appointment at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific in California, and was a post-doctoral fellow at the NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training in Gravitational Biology, located at Kansas State University. He joined the ETSU faculty in 1998 and was promoted to associate professor in 2004.
In nominating Dr. Forsman for the teaching award, the College of Public Health's Faculty Awards Committee remarked on his passion for teaching and that he teaches — among other courses — introduction classes in very large sections. The committee noted that he "has been in the vanguard of professors [who] have integrated technology into their existing courses." According to the committee, he has devoted several years to creating an extensive catalog of audiovisual teaching aids for his courses to complement and enhance the textbook and lab models. In addition, he has achieved international notoriety for his contributions to the iTunes educational platform. He has posted hundreds of anatomy lecture podcasts and videocasts on the ETSU-iTunes website that have been downloaded "hundreds of thousands of times." According to an ETSU employee who manages the ETSU-iTunes site, more than 100,000 downloads of Forsman's lectures were made in one two-week period, resulting in Forsman being "one of the most 'downloaded' professors on iTunes."
A student wrote, "Dr. Forsman has always demonstrated a great passion toward teaching.... His positive attitude about learning and gaining knowledge inspired me to continue my education on the subject matter and become a lifelong learner.... He went above his requirements as a teacher and spent his personal time posting recorded lectures and managing his own website built to help students learn. To me, these actions demonstrated what it means to truly love teaching." Another nominator added that he has received numerous letters of appreciation from students around the world, including as far away as Australia, London, Africa and Canada.
As winner of the 2012 Distinguished Teaching Award, Dr. Forsman will serve as Mace Bearer for ETSU's fall 2012 and spring 2013 Commencement Ceremonies.
