During its most recent meeting the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors conferred the emeritus title on the following faculty members in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences:

Thomas Gardner, Alumni Distinguished Professor in the Department of English, was recognized for his significant contributions to the study of American poetry and to the lyric essay through his own collections. Author of nine books, 27 essays, and numerous reviews and review essays, he received the 2003 Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the commonwealth’s highest honor for faculty; he also was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fulbright Bicentennial Chair in American Studies at the University of Helsinki, and the Phi Beta Kappa Sturm Award for Outstanding Faculty Research in 2021. Gardner taught a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate English courses, earning him the university’s William E. Wine Award. Gardner earned his bachelor’s degree from Bucknell University, a master’s degree from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin.

George Glasson, Professor of Science Education in the School of Education, established himself as a leader in science education and place-based education through his funded research, service to K-12 educators locally as well as internationally, and publications, outreach, and presentations on best practices in science education. He served as the leader of the science education program at Virginia Tech from 1996 to 2021. Glasson has been recognized for excellence in science teacher preparation, consulting to enhance science instruction with in-service teachers, and engagement in initiatives devoted to diversifying the professoriate through recruitment and mentoring of underrepresented graduate students. A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1986, Glasson earned his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Duke University and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Gary Skaggs, Professor of Educational Research and Evaluation in the School of Education, was Principal or Co-Principal Investigator on grants researching standard setting in large-scale educational testing as well as author or co-author of more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and reviews. A member of the editorial board of the journal Applied Measurement in Education, he also held leadership positions in professional organizations, including the National Council on Measurement in Education, which honored him in 2005 with its Bradley Hanson Award in recognition of educational measurement excellence. He taught undergraduate and graduate courses, serving on more than 50 master’s degree and Ph.D. committees in educational research and evaluation. Skaggs earned his bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech, a master’s degree from Radford University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.