Alum presented with Teaching Excellence Award

Lyle McKinney, a 2010 UF doctoral graduate in higher education administration, was recently awarded the University of Houston’s 2014 Teaching Excellence Award.

McKinney is an assistant professor of higher education and faculty-in-residence at UH.

This award isn’t McKinney’s first recognition as a top teacher. In 2013, he received the UH College of Education Research Excellence Award and also was one of four assistant professors across the state of Texas to serve as a Faculty Fellow of the Greater Texas Foundation.

He said his goal is to help shape public policies and institutional practices that raise the chances of success for community college students. He said he benefitted from UF COE’s national reputation as one of the best at preparing highly effective community college educators.

“UF gave me this great opportunity as a student to immerse myself in meaningful research,” he said. “It built a confidence that kind of snowballed.”

As a member of the Houston Gator Club, McKinney still feels closely linked to the Gator Nation. He said he gains a deeper appreciation for the knowledge and motivation his alma mater provided as the years go by.

“I want to take the knowledge I’ve gathered from UF and use it to improve the lives of others,” he said.