Nancy Metz, a professor in the Department of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, has received the university’s 2018 William E. Wine Award.

The William E. Wine Award was established in 1957 by the Virginia Tech Alumni Association in memory of William E. Wine, Class of 1904, who was a former rector of the Board of Visitors and Alumni Association president. Following a college-level selection process of candidates nominated by students, faculty, and alumni, each college may put forth one nominee. From this group, three faculty members are selected annually. Each Wine Award winner receives $2,000 and automatic induction into the Academy of Teaching Excellence.

In her 40 years of teaching, Metz has consistently led the way as the Department of English and the university have sought to expand the role of writing, collaboration, and individualized research projects in undergraduate studies.

“In the classroom, Dr. Metz is pleased to engage with any argument a student raises, regardless of her stance on the issue,” wrote Grace Silipigni, a former student, in a letter of nomination. “While she remains open to our interpretations of literary works or legal documents, she is not afraid to challenge them. Her opposing views then encourage us to reevaluate our original perspectives and to seek new answers.”

Metz currently serves on the Faculty Advisory Board of the Office of Undergraduate Research and, in 2016, she served as co-chair. She is also on the Faculty Advisory Board of Philologia, the undergraduate research journal of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.

Since 2011, five undergraduate papers mentored in her classes have been selected to represent Virginia Tech at the annual ACC Meeting of the Minds conference. Twenty of her students have presented work completed under her direction at regional conferences, and three undergraduate papers she mentored were published in Philologia.

In 2016, she was awarded “Favorite Faculty,” and in 2011, she received the XCaliber Team Project Award.

Written by Lindsey Grooms, a public relations major and member of the Class of 2019