Tarleton Professors Win Chancellor’s Academy of Teacher Educators Award

Bowers and Putman

Bowers and Putman

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, August 26, 2021

STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State University’s Dr. Sharon Tiffany Bowers and Dr. Rebecca Putman have received The Texas A&M University System Chancellor’s Academy of Teacher Educators Award.

Established in 2011, the award honors individuals at A&M System universities who contribute significantly to teacher education. It highlights the system’s role in producing K-12 teachers for Texas.

“Dr. Bowers and Dr. Putman were selected for this esteemed award because of their teaching excellence, innovative teaching, scholarship and service associated with teacher preparation,” said Dr. Karen Murray, Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs. “They are impactful members of the Tarleton faculty. Through their roles as mentors for peers and students, they create a positive culture and environment for the entire teaching program.”

The pair join a group of distinguished Tarleton educators, including Drs. Wendell Sadler, Beth Riggs, Vicky Johnson, Joe Gillespie, James Gentry, David Frazier and Maria Castañeda, as CATE honorees.

Dr. Bowers, an associate professor in the School of Kinesiology’s Department of Sport Science, coordinates the physical education teacher education concentration in the department and is the Director of Community Engagement and Service Learning in the Center for Educational Excellence. She received both the Chancellor’s Academy of Teacher Educators Award and Tarleton’s Engaged Faculty Award in 2019, and the O.A. Grant Excellence in Teaching Award for the College of Education and Human Development in 2020.

A former public school adapted physical education specialist, Dr. Bowers earned her PhD in kinesiology with a specialization in adapted physical activity from Texas Woman’s University.

She has developed reciprocal campus-community partnerships where Tarleton students plan and implement physical education experiences with Erath County home-school students; serve as event facilitators and athlete buddies for Stephenville ISD Special Olympics; and participate in sport and recreation activities with Rock House clients and the Tarleton Recreation Center.

Dr. Putman’s passion for literacy and love of teaching are keys to her success in the classroom. She works to combine high academic expectations with genuine understanding for her students.

An associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction within the College of Education and Human Development, she joined the faculty in August 2015. She has taught students at all levels and developed productive research collaborations.

Since 2018 she has served as the Faculty Teaching Fellow for the College of Education, providing resources that model evidence-based teaching practices. Tarleton recently named Dr. Putman the Senior Faculty Teaching Fellow for the university.

In 2018 she won the Outstanding Junior Faculty Award in recognition of demonstrated excellence in teaching, scholarly activities and service. In January 2020 the College of Education awarded her its Faculty Excellence in Scholarship Award.

She earned her BS in deaf education from Texas Christian University and is a former elementary public school teacher and reading specialist. Her MEd in reading education and PhD in curriculum and instruction are from the University of North Texas.

A founding member of The Texas A&M System, Tarleton State is breaking records — in enrollment, research, scholarship, athletics, philanthropy and engagement — while transforming the lives of nearly 17,000 students in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Bryan and online. True to Tarleton’s values of excellence, integrity and respect, academic programs emphasize real world learning and address regional, state and national needs.
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