Dr. T.D. Maze, chair of Lander University's Department of Biology, has been selected as the university's 2015 Distinguished Professor. The award is given for exemplary performance as a classroom teacher and scholar, and for services to Lander and beyond.
Maze is a professor of biology who joined the Lander faculty after obtaining his doctoral degree in reproductive physiology from West Virginia University. He received his undergraduate degree in biology from West Virginia State University and his master's in biological sciences from Marshall University.
He pointed out that he accompanied his wife, Dr. Jennifer Maze, to Lander after she accepted a teaching position in biology in 2002. She is also a professor of biology. He started as a member of the adjunct faculty before moving into a full-time teaching spot.
Maze said, "My vision for Lander is that we should aim to be a great teaching institution; therefore, I spend the majority of my time focusing on what I do in the classroom."
He currently teaches physiology and most of his students are freshmen. This year, students in his animal physiology class made four Academic Showcase presentations, featuring the results of research they had conducted. Maze cited data suggesting that students who participate in such "course-embedded" research have higher retention and graduation rates. He was awarded a Lander Foundation grant for the 2014-15 academic year for undergraduate-driven research that produced one paper and three presentations at venues in South Carolina and elsewhere.
Maze has also been an active instructor in the summer science programs hosted by Lander, teaching forensics and crime solving techniques to local schoolchildren.
As biology chair, Maze has developed an action plan to guide his department over the next five years. He has served on the Vision Committee of Lander's Board of Trustees, and he is also chair of the university's General Education Committee.
In addition to his classroom and administrative responsibilities, Maze has coached the men's rugby team since coming to Lander, where it is a club sport. He coached men's and women's rugby at West Virginia University and, overall, he has 30 years' experience as a rugby player and coach.
As for being selected as Lander's 2015 Distinguished Professor, Maze said, "There's a pretty impressive group of people who have received the award ahead of me, and I'm honored to be among them."
Maze and his wife have one child, son, Jonah, who is 9.