Greenville Technical College has selected Julian Nixon, a biology instructor, as nominee for the 2014 College Professor of the Year.
Each year, the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education and the Governor sponsor two "Governor's Professor the Year" awards – one for two-year colleges and one for four-year institutions. Selection will be announced early next spring.
An assistant professor of anatomy and physiology in the Biological Sciences Department, Nixon was previously named as a South Carolina Technical Education Association Educator of the Year. He serves as faculty advisor for the college's African American Male Leadership institute, which focuses on retention, persistence, and academic success of African American males through mentorship, workshops, immersion trips, and more.
In addition, he has served as a lead instructor, faculty mentor, faculty senator, vice president of faculty senate, and academic liaison. Nixon created a YouTube channel, "daproffessa77," to assist anatomy and physiology students with online tutoring and is creator and lead instructor for the anatomy and physiology open tutoring lab known as BIO S.h.a.c.k.
Nixon was selected from four divisional nominees at the college. Nominees included Alan Scheidhauer of the Culinary Institute of the Carolinas at Greenville Tech, Glenn Galloway from the Machine Tool Technology program, and Elizabeth Tipping of the Nursing program.