2020 College of Arts and Sciences announce Gene Hatfield Award winners

(August 17, 2020) - The College of Arts and Sciences kicked off fall semester recognizing its professors who have made achievements in service, scholarship and teaching excellence. Winners of the Gene Hatfield Annual Service Awards were announced during a virtual presentation on Aug. 6.

Three faculty were selected for the awards, which are provided by the estate of Dr. Gene Hatfield, former professor emeritus of history who taught history and government at Clayton State University for 32 years before retiring in 2008.

Dr. Christopher Kodani, associate professor of biology, was named Hatfield Teacher of The Year. 

Kodani was selected for best embodying the ideals of the award— a teacher who displays enthusiasm, creativity, compassion, authority, authenticity, patience, persistence, and/or humor in his or her teaching and interactions with students.

Kodani’s passion for teaching has been evident from his teaching philosophy as well as comments from students who offered great praise for his teaching style, his enthusiasm and his positive attitude.

Dr. Annalisa Chang, assistant professor of music education, earned the Hatfield Service of the Year award. 

And in a double win, Dr. Jelani Favors, associate professor of history, earned both the Hatfield Scholar of the Year award, as well as the Mari Ann Banks Equity and Justice award.

Previously known as the Diversity Leadership award, the award was renamed in honor of Dr. Mari Ann Banks, who served as the director for the Center for Academic Success and was the Jimmy Easley Professor of Multicultural Education.

Favors was recognized for his impressive contributions which culminated with the publication of a book that focused on a longitudinal study from 1837 to the present of how HBCUs fostered student activism. Entitled “Shelter in a Time of Storm: How Black Colleges Fostered Generations of Leadership and Activism,” the book was one of the finalists for the African-American Intellectual History Society Pauli Murray Book Prize for the best book in Black Intellectual history.

The Gene Hatfield Awards are voted on by faculty committees each year. Recipients are then chosen by their peers, other full-time faculty members, in recognition of their outstanding contributions in advancing the College’s mission of service through teaching, research and creative endeavors.