CONWAY — Hendrix College biology professor Joyce Hardin said she has sat through about 20 announcements of the Exemplary Teacher Award, and this time her name was called.
“I know some of these people I’ve worked with through the years who are master, master teachers,” Hardin said, “and I don’t feel like I’m in the category with them at all.”
Many people disagree, including Robert L. Entzminger, provost of the college.
He called her a “beloved teacher” who has been “exemplary in the fullest possible meaning of the word.”
“I’m so humbled,” Hardin said, “and a little bit embarrassed, to be honest.”
She was one of 14 professors at United Methodist-related schools, colleges and universities chosen for the honor. The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry gives the award.
Although it was supposed to be a secret, Hardin got a heads up when a check arrived in the mail over the Christmas holidays.
“My first thought was, ‘I’ll take it’; my second thought was, ‘Oh, I don’t want to have to give it back,’” she recalled, laughing.
Entzminger told her the check, which was supposed to come to him first, is part of the award.
The honor isn’t surprising for someone who has such a passion for teaching.
“I love students; I absolutely adore students,” she said.
The 57-year-old Hardin, who grew up in Scott, came to Hendrix in 1989 from Oklahoma City, where she taught in the biology department at the University of Central Oklahoma. Her son, Jake, was a week old. She and her husband, Tom, also have an older son, Matthew.
She grew up with an identical twin, Janet Fifer; two other sisters, one of whom is deceased; and a brother.
Hardin’s twin lives in the Morgan/Marche area and is a pharmacist. The sisters see each other as much as possible, and yes, they do that “twin” thing sometimes.
“We’ll buy the identical birthday card to send to someone,” Hardin said.
Her father, the late Wayne Tull, sold auto parts, and her mother, Mattie Helen, was a secretary and now lives with Hardin’s sister.
“They were smart,” Hardin said of her parents, “but neither of them had the opportunity to go to college.”
Her father had hoped to get a basketball scholarship at the University of Central Arkansas, but by the time he arrived, all the scholarships were gone.
He was passed over for a promotion in his work because he didn’t have a degree.
Because of that, Hardin said, her parents were insistent that their children get college diplomas, and all of them have at least master’s degrees.
Hardin, whose doctorate is in crop physiology, has always loved biology, she said.
“I grew up gardening,” she said. “My dad truck-farmed — we’d sell watermelons and vegetables and things for college money.”
While her husband was an officer in the Navy, working as a nuclear engineer, she was working at the Medical University of South Carolina.
“People were really sick, and they were wonderful, and they died on us, and I decided I didn’t want to go on and do anything having to do with medicine or animals,” she said.
It was during research there that Hardin found a role model.
“The person I worked for was a female, and she kind of became a role model for me because she blazed the trail in terms of women in her area,” Hardin said. “She was very well-known as a researcher, and I really hadn’t thought about advanced degrees at that point.
“She was a lovely lady and a good mentor.”
Hardin’s career path at Hendrix has been somewhat unusual, she said.
When former Hendrix President Ann Die left and J. Timothy Cloyd took over, he asked Hardin to be vice president of student affairs.
She had been chairing the Student Life Committee and was area chair of natural sciences.
In the VP position, she oversaw the design of the new Student Life and Technology Building.
“From the dream phase to the design phase, and to begin construction and to be able to dream big and make a difference was just wonderful, I think. It was a wonderful opportunity, and I’m grateful for it,” she said.
“That’s not my passion,” she said of administration. “I enjoyed it, but that was not where I wanted to finish my career.”
In 2008, she went back to teaching, which was good news for students like sophomore Emily Deitchler of Eureka Springs, who said Hardin has been supportive professionally and personally.
“Dr. Hardin’s desire to connect with students and constant willingness to help, even when she has a million other things to do, always amazes me,” Deitchler said. “In the classroom, she has a talent for making any course material interesting and fun, while challenging students to think critically and go beyond information regurgitation.”
Deitchler said Hardin’s “overall positive attitude and passion for the subjects are inspiring.”
Dillon Blankenship of Pea Ridge, a junior, agreed.
“Dr. Hardin is an effective teacher, and she is most remarkable in her genuine concern for student learning,” he said. Blankenship added that Hardin has been his adviser for several Odyssey projects, including a contra-dance project in North Carolina and pollination-biology research in Oregon.
Hardin is the inaugural Judy and Randy Wilbourn Odyssey Professor and is chair of the environmental studies program.
In the early 2000s, she designed the introductory class for the program. Environmental studies offers an interdisciplinary look at the environment, she said, from the historical components and how humans use the ecosystem to how it impacts society.
“With the problems we’ve got today, you really need a broad look to be able to solve a problem,” she said.
“I thoroughly enjoy the botany side of things,” she said. “Environmental studies is my new passion.” It’s broadening her “as a person,” she explained, “and I find that fun.”
Hardin is self-deprecating about her success.
“My work at Hendrix has been successful in no small part due to the support and encouragement of my colleagues, friends and family, but particularly my husband,” who is now an attorney, she said. She admitted that might be a cliche, “but true.”