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Dr. Carolyn Gibson Receives University's Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching

April 21, 2009

Dr. Carolyn Gibson, Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Penn Dental Medicine, has been selected as a 2009 recipient of the University of Pennsylvania's Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. Established in 1961, the Lindback Award recognizes eight individuals annually, four within the health schools and four within the non-health schools, for their excellence in teaching at the University of Pennsylvania. This year's recipients will be honored at a reception for the University community on Monday, April 27 at 5 p.m. in the Hall of Flags, Houston Hall.

Dr. Gibson has been a member of the School's faculty since 1986. A highly respected researcher in the area of molecular and genetic bases of tooth enamel formation, she was named the Distinguished Scientist in Oral Biology in 2004 by the International Association for Dental Research, and was the 2008 and 2002 recipient of the William J. Gies Award, presented annually by the International and American Associations for Dental Research in recognition of the best paper published in the Journal of Dental Research during the preceding year.

"More than just another professor at this school," in the words of a student government leader, she is—as course director of Histology and Embryology—one of the first faculty members encountered by new students, who praise not only her "extremely well-structured, clear, and informative" classes but also her devotion to helping them outside class.  She "seems to always be thinking of the student in the context of her own research," notes one student, even as that research "has been revolutionizing the field of dental medicine for many years."

The Lindback Awards for Distinguished Teaching at the University of Pennsylvania were established with the help of the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation. Christian Lindback was president and principal of Abbotts Dairies, Inc., and the Foundation established the awards at colleges and universities throughout Abbotts Dairies, Inc's service area in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia.

Candidates of the Lindback Award are determined by nominations and recommendations made by members of the faculty and staff in December of each year. Two separate committees, one for the health schools and another for the non-health schools, consisting of previous award winners and students, select the winners from the nominees.

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