2007 Outstanding Teacher: Sharyn Freyermuth
Her colleagues and students regard Dr. SHARYN FREYERMUTH as an exemplary teacher whose personifies the scholastic virtues of clarity, variety, enthusiasm and professionalism and established objectives. "Dr. Freyermuth makes you want to learn," says 2004 MU agricultural journalism graduate Ginger Berry. "With a wide array of assignments and activities, she makes biochemistry, a confusing and scary topic, interesting."
"I think of the learning process as the creation of a mental map," Freyermuth says about her teaching philosophy. "The first step in learning at any stage requires that the student have the desire to learn the information and ‘create the map.' As the instructor, my goal is to help the students understand why it is important top have an accurate map of the information. In order to do this, I must make the information relevant to their lives."
Freyermuth grew up in Atlanta where she graduated summa cum laude from the University of Georgia with a B.S. in Genetics. She received her Ph.D. from Duke in biochemistry and genetics and did a short postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado in Boulder before coming to the University of Missouri in 1998. She holds a 100 percent teaching position as a resident instructor assistant professor in the department of biochemistry.
"AS I LEFT HER CLASS...I THOUGHT HOW LUCKY MIZZOU'S STUDENTS WERE TO HAVE SUCH A GREAT TEACHER,"
— Dr. Bryan Garton, associate professor and chair, agricultural education
From extracting DNA from a banana and following the path of heritable diseases to writing last minute letters of recommendation, Freyermuth has always sought to engage and assist her student however she can and get to know them on a personal level that eludes some professors who teach large classes. Many students credit her with giving them confidence not only in their knowledge of the material, but also confidence in themselves and their ability to go further with their education.
"When one of my recommendation letter writers was suddenly called into active duty in the Navy, I contacted Dr. Freyermuth in the hopes that she would be willing to help me with my problem," says MU graduate Tomi Toler. "Without missing a step, Dr. Freyermuth enthusiastically agreed to write me a recommendation letter for graduate school. I'm certain that without her letter, I would not have received my interview at the University of Colorado in Denver. Personally I do not believe the amount of confidence that she gave me throughout the semester with her continuing encouragement."