Announcements.

Kenneth G. Elzinga Distinguished Teaching Award

The Southern Economic Association will annually honor one or more faculty members for outstanding contributions to teaching under a resolution passed by the Board of Trustees of the organization at its fall 2002 meeting. The Association promotes advances in research and teaching through its annual meeting and the publication of the Southern Economic Journal. A committee of the Board of Trustees of the Association annually selects the most outstanding paper published in the Southern Economic Journal during the past year. The author(s) of the paper are recognized and honored at the annual meeting with a plaque and cash award for their contribution to the advancement of the discipline of economics. The Southern Economic Association will now also honor exemplary educators for their contributions to economics instruction on their campus or beyond by conferring upon them the Kenneth G. Elzinga Distinguished Teaching Award.

Ken Elzinga is widely recognized as one of the most accomplished, effective, and influential educators in the economics profession during a distinguished teaching and research career at the University of Virginia that has spanned over 35 years. Ken is creative and versatile in the classroom, sharing his thoughts effectively with large groups of students studying the principles of economics, and using the Socratic method when working with students in a more advanced setting. He is a pioneer in the use of literature to explore economic reasoning, which led to his writing murder mysteries that can be solved by careful economic analysis. Ken's style of instruction and commitment to helping students develop an understanding of and appreciation for economic reasoning and insights serve as an inspiration for economic educators, so it is a fitting honor for exemplary economic educators to be honored with an award in his name.

Through a letter circulated early in October 2002 from the Board of Trustees of the Southern Economic Association, nominations were solicited from economics department heads from each institution in the southern part of the United States. Nominations were received from universities and colleges that are teaching oriented and from schools that emphasize research. Department heads were encouraged to nominate a member of their department by submitting a letter to the Board spelling out the candidates' special attributes and accomplishments as an economics educator. A committee of the Board reviewed the nominations prior to the annual meeting of the organization in November 2002 and selected two individuals to honor. The Board anticipates honoring two to three persons each year.

William C. Wood, Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Economic Education at James Madison University, and William Darity, Jr., Boshamer Professor of Economics and Director of the Institute for African American Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, are the first recipients of the Kenneth G. Elzinga Distinguished Teaching Award. They will be honored at the 2003 meeting of the Southern Economic Association in San Antonio, Texas, where they will receive plaques and $1,000 cash awards.

Professor Wood is noted for his efforts to enhance the introduction of economic ideas into the curriculum of the public schools. He has accomplished this by developing an array of courses for classroom teachers to improve their ability to bring economics to the K-12 population, and by producing a series of instructional videos for teachers. He is an outstanding presenter of economic ideas and has written extensively on how to appropriately access economic learning at the college level, which he sees as a guide to improved teaching.

Professor Darity is founding Director of the Minority Undergraduate Research Assistance Program (MURAP) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. MURAP provides talented undergraduate students from underrepresented minority groups an opportunity to engage in scholarly work with faculty mentors during a summer period. Professor Dainty is a provocative and dynamic educator in the classroom setting and at professional conferences.

The Fulbright Scholar Program is offering numerous lecturing, research, and lecturing/research awards for economics professors and economists for the 2004-2005 academic year. Awards for both faculty and professionals range from two months to an academic year.

While many awards specify project and host institution, there are a number of open All Disciplines" awards that allow candidates to propose their own project and determine their host institution affiliation. Foreign language skills are needed in some countries, but most Fulbright lecturing assignments are in English.

August 1, 2003 is the deadline for applying. For information, visit the website at www.cies.org or contact the Council for International Exchange of Scholars at 3007 Tilden Street, NW, Suite 5L, Washington, DC 20008; phone [phone]; email [e-mail].

The Fulbright Scholar Program is sponsored by the United States Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.