Dr. Ryan Anderson, a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP) was recently selected as UNC Pembroke’s recipient of the 2024 UNC Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Anderson has mentored countless UNCP students by investing his time to ensure their success. His popularity among students as a demanding yet encouraging professor and his faculty colleagues' respect for his skills as an educator are some of the attributes the University is glad to see honored. 

He joined the UNCP faculty in 2007 as assistant professor of history, eventually earning the rank of professor in 2018. He is also the coordinator of the American Studies minor. From 2014 to 2019, he served as director of the Pembroke Undergraduate Research and Creativity Center (PURC), which supports and advances undergraduate research programs.

At UNCP, Anderson said he has continued to grow as a teacher thanks to the high bar for faculty performance in the classroom.

“When I got hired, we already had a strong tradition of excellent work in our department,” Anderson said in a press release. “It was made clear to me that you wouldn’t just be a proficient teacher, but an excellent one. Watching the professors in our department showed me how to take my strengths to a different level.”

Anderson will receive a commemorative bronze medallion, a cash award and be recognized at Spring Commencement. The Board of Governors annually selects 17 outstanding faculty members for the awards, representing each of North Carolina’s 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics.