Photograph by Nick Young, Collin College photographer.
The Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation named Dr. Amina El-Ashmawy, Collin College professor of chemistry, as a 2015 Piper Professor. This honor is presented annually to 10 Texas professors for superior teaching at a college or university.
“We are very proud of Dr. El-Ashmawy’s accomplishment,” said Mac Hendricks, chair of the Collin College Board of Trustees. “Her dedication to her students and to the field of chemistry sets an example everyone should strive to follow.”
Dr. El-Ashmawy has been a professor at Collin College since 1991. She holds a doctorate in chemistry from the University of North Texas and earned her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in chemistry from Texas A&M University as well as an Associate of Science degree from Kilgore College.
She is well known on campus and in her industry as an innovator and leader. In addition to her regular teaching duties, Dr. El-Ashmawy developed online chemistry curriculum and taught undergraduate research classes in the college’s Center for Advanced Studies in Mathematics and Natural Sciences. She is a published author with multiple journal articles and textbook credits to her name, including a chapter in the upcoming “Sputnik to Smartphones: A Half-Century of Chemical Education.” Dr. El-Ashmawy has also worked extensively with the American Chemical Society (ACS), which named her an ACS Fellow in 2013.
“Dr. El-Ashmawy brings both a love of education and the natural world to her classes, sharing the often unnoticed wonders of chemistry taking place all around us in a way her students can understand,” said Dr. Neil Matkin, Collin College district president. “She continues a tradition of academic excellence among our faculty as she becomes the seventh Collin College professor selected as a Piper Professor.”
Dr. El-Ashmawy was honored to receive the award.
“I am humbled that I was selected by the Piper Foundation, as several gifted colleagues have been before me, and, I’m sure, several will be after me,” she said. “It is indeed an honor to receive the Piper Professorship. I gratefully accept the award not only for myself but for Collin College and all my colleagues.”
This is the second year in a row that a Collin College professor has been honored by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation. Dr. Kyle Wilkison was named a Piper Professor in 2014. Other previous winners on the faculty at Collin College include Dr. Peggy Brown, Dr. Rosemary Karr, Scott Yarborough, Gary Hodge and Dr. Lynn Jones.
The Minnie Stevens Piper Professor award, first granted in 1958, recognizes outstanding educators at two- and four-year colleges and universities. The prestigious honor comes with a $5,000 honorarium and a gold pin.
Collin College serves nearly 52,000 credit and continuing education students annually and offers more than 100 degrees and certificates in a wide range of disciplines. The only public college in the county, Collin College is a partner to business, government and industry, providing customized training and work force development.
