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CGS Teacher of the Year inspires students, colleagues

by Mary Helen Yarborough
Public Relations
Debra Hazen-Martin knows the value of an advanced degree. As the first member of her entire family to graduate college, she instills that same value and passion for learning in her students in the College of Graduate Studies. Because of this Hazen-Martin, Ph.D., has become one of the most admired teachers at MUSC, earning her the 2007 Teacher of the Year Award for her work in College of Graduate Studies.
 
Dr. Debra Hazen-Martin

Being recognized by students “is wind in your sail” in terms of receiving the Teacher of the Year award, said Hazen-Martin a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine. “It gives you a burst of energy. Students can be very critical. But there are always good things to be learned from their comments. I take their comments very seriously. I look at them and try to improve.”
 
An eternal inspiration to others, Hazen-Martin recalls the grammar school teacher who uplifted her during a time of insecurity.
 
She was in the fourth grade when her family moved from a small rural community in Western Pennsylvania to Elyria, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, where professions were more industrialized. She realized how little she knew once she was thrust into a big-city environment with more challenging academic expectations.
 
“I had been a good student growing up in Ellwood City. It was a small, close-knit community. In school, I sat in the same seat as my father sat in when he was a student. We actually had the same teacher,” said Hazen-Martin, reflecting on an uncomplicated time. “And then, when I got to the school outside of Cleveland, I was overwhelmed. My clothes were too simple. My background was too simple. It was a much more affluent area. The school had far more resources than I was used to, and it was much more progressive.”
 
Her teacher was Eleanor Johnson, a woman known to be “tough and mean,” Hazen-Martin said. But one day after school, Mrs. Johnson pulled her aside and said things that would resonate throughout Hazen-Martin’s life and profession.
 
“She told me she had every bit of confidence that I could be, and would be, an excellent student, and she would stand by my side,” said Hazen-Martin. “And stand by my side she did.”
 
Indeed, Hazen-Martin became a great student. When she began applying for college, she interviewed at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, with a Mr. Johnson. Ironically, after the interview, she learned that this man was her fourth grade teacher’s son. “I received a full scholarship to that college,” said Hazen-Martin, who majored in biology.
 
She hasn’t forgotten the feelings she had as a little girl,  and she harkens back to those encouraging words from a woman whom most had feared.
 
“When students come to MUSC, some are overwhelmed,” she said. “Some bring baggage, like family problems or other issues that can complicate their learning. But we can’t give up on any student. We have to do what we can to help them enjoy success in this environment.”
 
Her colleagues and students are awed by Hazen-Martin’s commitment as a professor and mentor.
 
“Dr. Hazen-Martin is an educator of rare talent. She has been teaching in both the College of Medicine and the College of Graduate Studies for years, yet she carefully reviews and updates each lecture before she gives it,” said Lisa L. Cunningham, Ph.D., assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine. “She is remarkably dedicated. I often find her in her office in the evenings studying the material for the next day’s lecture. She will have several textbooks open, as well as the newest primary literature. She works very hard to keep all of her lectures and course materials highly current and relevant. She is the course director for the cell injury and response unit in the first-year curriculum of the College of Graduate Studies, and although the unit receives very high marks from the graduate students every year, she constantly strives to improve the unit with better lectures, better flextime activities, and better instructors. Because of her dedication, the unit gets better every year. I have been teaching in this unit for three years, and I learn something new myself every time Dr. Hazen-Martin gives a lecture.”
 
Jamie Lee Fraser, a sixth-year M.D./Ph.D. student, echoed Cunningham's admiration.
 
 “She’s the most awesome person in the world,” Fraser said. “She is totally accessible whenever you need her. It’s not just me who says this. Her approachability, her genuine interest in students’ success, her eagerness to be involved with us—not just in academics but socially—sets her apart from most. …I have had over 50 to 70 professors in a lecturing capacity. I’d rate her No. 1, not only as a lecturer, but for the whole amazing package as an academician.”
 
Fraser credits Hazen-Martin, who is on her graduate training committee, with mentoring her during various academic challenges, including gross anatomy, and the pathology lab. “In her role, she is whom I aspire to be,” said Fraser, an Agnes Scott College graduate. “She was the person who personified what I had come to expect in a professor.”
 
Hazen-Martin’s department chair described her as a woman who has balanced  personal, professional and civic life for the benefit of those who interact with her.
 
“Dr. Debra Hazen-Martin is an outstanding role model for today’s students,” said Janice Lage, M.D., chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. “Debra is a wonderful mother, an excited, new grandmother, an outstanding teacher and a loving friend. And yet, she is a fully balanced individual having spent many an evening serving on town council for Sullivan’s Island. She can help you see the silver lining in any dark cloud. We are honored to have Debra in our department. She embodies the best role of pathology educators, being the true interface between basic science and clinical medicine.”
 
Students also say that everyone here is fortunate that Hazen-Martin remained at MUSC as opposed to taking either post-doctoral offers from Harvard or Mount Sinai about 20 years ago. Hazen-Martin recalls her reasons for staying. “I made a decision to stay here, because it was the best decision for my family at the time,” Hazen-Martin said.
 
Hazen-Martin came to MUSC as a student in 1976 when she entered the Ph.D. program. In 1984, she took a post-doctoral position and in 1986 she accepted a faculty position. She has served as director of the Hollings Cancer Center Tumor Bank since 2001, and director of the Pathology Core Research Facilities since 1992. Hazen-Martin has received the Faculty Excellence Award four times. She has been nominated for the Golden Apple Award nine times and the Health Science Foundation Teaching Excellence Award twice. This is the fifth time she has been recognized by the College of Graduate Studies as among their Top 10 Teachers. She has been either principal investigator or co-investigator on more than a dozen research grants, and she has 70 published works.
 
“Dr. Hazen-Martin’s teaching benefits a great deal from her expertise in both anatomy and pathology. This broad-based expertise makes her an extremely versatile instructor,” Cunningham said. “The medical students learn both anatomy and cell injury from her, and the graduate students learn about cellular responses to stress. Both the medical students and the graduate students consistently recognize the excellence of her teaching by nominating her for the both the Golden Apple Award and the graduate school’s top teacher award.”
   

Friday, June 8, 2007
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