Beitscher and Greyraven Tagged Profs of the Year

Publish Date: June 8, 2016

History professor Jane Beitscher and biology professor Ruth Greyraven have been named Crafton Hills College's 2015-2016 Professors of the Year.

With the honor, Beitscher comes full circle — she received the award during her first year teaching at Crafton in 1990, and again this year as she prepares to retire.

"Receiving Professor of the Year the first year I taught here was very unusual for an untenured professor, and a tremendous honor," she said. "I carried that with me the whole time I've been here. Everyone is saying this is a wonderful way for you to go out on top of the heap, and I keep saying to myself it's time to honor the younger faculty. … It's always an honor to be evaluated on such a high scale by your colleagues."

Beitscher comes from a family full of educators, and says she was born with a "history gene and a teaching gene." She can often be found with her students having lunch, coffee, or just a conversation.

"I'm a very inclusive person, and a lot of students have become my personal friends," she said. "My husband comes from Mexico City, and when we got married about six years ago, he was just stunned at how friendly I was with my students. I had to explain to him this is Crafton, and this is what we do at Crafton."

Greyraven says she is "constantly amazed, impressed, and inspired" by all of her colleagues at Crafton and believes that "every single CHC faculty member is at least as deserving of this award as I am."

"In my opinion, we have a great faculty at CHC," she said. "Every professor is passionate about helping students, each in their own way."

Her favorite thing about Crafton is the beautiful landscape and how she incorporates that into her teaching.

"It's a wonderful resource for field trips that teach about the diversity of biological organisms, the challenges of wildlands conservation, and the ethnobotany of local wildflowers," Greyraven said.