Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges (VFIC) consortium of schools honored several Randolph-Macon College faculty with H. Hiter Harris awards for their dedication to higher education and student success at a special VFIC Board Meeting and Awards presentation.

The presentations, held virtually on November 5, recognized the work of RMC faculty member, Dr. Amber Peacock, Assistant Professor of Education with the 2020 H. Hiter Harris III Rising Star Award.  Lily Zhang, Head of Media and Instructional Support, Director of Instructional Technology and Associate Professor, received the 2020 H. Hiter Harris III Excellence in Instructional Technology Award.

Both awards were presented to Peacock and Zhang by RMC President Robert R. Lindgren and Dr. Alisa Rosenthal, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs.

Amber Peacock 

RMC President Robert R. Lindgren called Peacock a highly effective advocate for her students and for the importance of Special Education. “Professor Peacock’s students and colleagues alike, independently describe her impact as transformative, both in how she mentors her students to discover their passions and excel in their work, and in the ways in which she has worked to improve the Education program and the college.” 

Peacock completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology and her graduate master’s degree in Human Development & Family Studies at Texas Tech University. In 1995, she earned her M.Ed. in Special Education from James Madison University, and in 2015 she completed her Ph.D. in Instructional Leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University. Peacock began working at Randolph-Macon in 2009 as an adjunct professor to help develop coursework for a K-12 special education licensure track for the school’s education program. She was appointed a tenure-track assistant professorship in 2016. Peacock is highly involved with her students and on campus, holding positions on the college’s Academic Integrity Council and the Curriculum Committee. In 2019, Peacock was recognized with the college’s Art Conway Award for Enthusiasm in Teaching and Learning, an award presented annually by students in the Honors Program.

Lily Zhang 

“For more than twenty years at Randolph-Macon, Professor Zhang has begun by asking what it is that her colleagues are seeking to accomplish and whether, and to what degree, instructional technology can help in that goal,” says Lindgren. “The primary goal is never the technology, it is always the teaching, and Lily’s steadfast, longstanding, and proven commitment has engendered deep trust and appreciation from the RMC faculty.”

Zhang graduated in 1988 with a B.A. in English from Nanjing University in China. In 1994, Zhang earned an M.A. in Chinese Pedagogy followed by an M.A. in Instructional Design & Technology in 1995, both from The University of Iowa. From 1994 to 2000, Zhang co-authored a computerized adaptive language project through the Ohio State University National Foreign Language Resource Center program of the U.S. Department of Education. Zhang began working at Randolph-Macon in 1995 as the Media Resource Supervisor and as an assistant professor. For over twenty years, Zhang has been working with faculty and students at RMC to enhance courses and curriculum through instructional technology. This spring, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Zhang helped the college transition from in-person classes to remote online-learning. Zhang is respected and admired by her colleagues for her knowledge and expertise in digital pedagogy.

The Harris Awards

The Harris awards were generously created through endowments by the Harris family. The Harris family endowed these awards to highlight the special features of VFIC colleges and universities by recognizing faculty members “whose professional history reflects a strong, clear and abiding commitment to excellence in classroom teaching within the undergraduate liberal arts and sciences.” Recipients of each award received a stipend to support their scholarly research and professional development.

About the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges

Established in 1952, the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges (VFIC) aims to advance the distinctive values and strengths of the fifteen colleges across Virginia that make up our consortium. VFIC accomplishes this goal by generating financial support for schools – more than $160 million since their inception. Leveraging those resources, they establish and administer a range of programs that help schools attract the best and brightest, create a vibrant and rigorous educational experience, prepare students for a fulfilling career, and cultivate responsible leaders for the communities they call home.