The Long Island University in New York on Friday (April 26) awarded the prestigious David Newton Award for Excellence in Teaching for 2013 to Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor, Assistant Professor of English.

By winning this 26th edition of this prestigious award, Dr. Bokor has made Ghana and Africa proud. He is the first Ghanaian (and African, for that matter) to have won this award since its establishment in 1988. Moreover, Dr. Bokor is the first and only Ghanaian (and African, for that matter) to be recruited as full-time faculty member of the Department of English of the Richard L. Conolly College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Brooklyn Campus, since the establishment of the Long Island University in 1926.

In a letter recognizing Dr. Bokor’s accomplishments, the President of the Long Island University, Dr. David J. Steinberg praised him for winning the university’s highest recognition for teaching, an award that is given “to honor our faculty for their mastery of subject, their contributions to the intellectual growth of their students, and their dedication to the hallowed traditions of the academy.” On his part, Dr. Jeffrey Kane, Vice President for Academic Affairs, commended Dr. Bokor’s dedication to inspiring the critical engagement of the university’s students through the quality of his teaching. He noted that the interaction of teacher and student is the foundation of any educational experience, adding “and I lend my appreciation for your part in setting the standard for Long Island University.”

Dr. Bokor teaches undergraduate and graduate-level courses in composition, technical and professional writing, general linguistics, and editing, among others. He also directs graduate students’ theses, mentors undergraduate students and Graduate Teaching Fellows, and co-advises the African Students Association. He is the chair of the Conolly College Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

His publication (“Moving International Technical Communication Forward: A World Englishes Approach,” published in the Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 41(2), (2011): 113–138, was nominated for a national award of the 2012 Conference on College Composition and Communication in the category of “Best Article on Philosophy or Theory of Technical or Scientific Communication.” Dr. Bokor is a product of the University of Cape Coast (Bachelor of Arts) and the Illinois State University in the United States (Ph.D. in English Studies). He was the first Ghanaian to be enrolled for graduate studies in the English Department of the Illinois State University since its establishment in 1859.