Music professor Joseph Henry receives Eureka College teaching award

faculty honored

Joseph Henry of Eureka, a Eureka College professor of music since 1991, was named the 2008 recipient of the Helen Cleaver Distinguished Teaching Award at the college’s graduation May 3.

The award recognizes excellence, creativity and innovation in teaching. It includes a financial stipend, and the award-winner is the speaker at the college’s fall opening convocation. Nominations are made by faculty, staff and students, and the winner is chosen by a selection committee. The award is named for a 1928 Eureka College alumna who had a long and successful teaching career.     

 “Dr. Henry’s impact both inside and outside the classroom is profound,” said Provost and Dean of the College Irene Burgess, who presented the award. “In the classroom he is demanding yet supportive, organized yet flexible – the very model of a great teacher and learner. And, there is no outside the classroom; instead the whole world is a laboratory – an attempt to learn something new or try something different as part of a creative and ongoing learning process,” Burgess said.

Henry is the director of the Eureka College Chorale and Chamber Singers and coordinator of the Music Education Program. He also is the conductor and artistic director of the 90-member Peoria Area Civic Chorale. In 2006, Henry was inducted into the Peoria Symphony Orchestra’s Hall of Fame.

Henry received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern Maine, a master’s degree from the University of Maine and a doctorate from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

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Contact:

Michele Lehman

Media Relations Coordinator

mlehman@eureka.edu

(309) 467-6318