Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2004-01-30

Samford University School of Performing Arts professor Dr. Betty Sue Shepherd is recipient of this year’s George Macon Memorial Award at the school. The award annually honors a faculty member whose performance as a teacher, counselor and friend to students demonstrates the ability to inspire students to greatness.

Dr. Shepherd, who has taught piano at Samford for more than 45 years, received the award from Samford Provost Dr. Brad Creed during the opening convocation of the spring semester Thursday (JAN. 29).

“She is known as a teacher who combines the establishment of high expectations for her students with a willingness to invest extra time with them so that they might fulfill those expectations,” said Creed.

Her students have recurring success in regional and national competitions and in admission to graduate school. She was named Teacher of the Year by the Alabama Music Teachers Association in 2001.

A concert pianist who has been organist at Vestavia Hills Baptist Church for 35 years, Shepherd is the author of two publications of hymn arrangements, By Request: Favorite Hymns for Organ and Sacred Concert Stylings, for piano. She has recorded “Shepherd’s Song.”

 

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.