January 26, 2007
Leigh Tiebout to receive national award
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CARBONDALE, Ill. — An assistant professor in Southern Illinois University Carbondale's dental technology program is receiving national recognition from her professional peers. In recognition of her career accomplishments, Leigh A. Tiebout will receive the 2007 Educator of the Year award from the National Association of Dental Laboratories. She will receive the award Sunday, Jan. 28 — the first day of the three-day national conference in Las Vegas. Associate professor and Dental Technology Program Director John R. Winings nominated Tiebout for the award. In addition, two program graduates also sent recommendation letters. She was also "strongly recommended" by dental technology faculty and colleagues, Winings said. Tiebout began her career at SIUC in 1983 as a lecturer. She became an assistant professor in 1987. CARBONDALE, Ill. — An assistant professor in Southern Illinois University Carbondale's dental technology program is receiving national recognition from her professional peers.
In recognition of her career accomplishments, Leigh A. Tiebout will receive the 2007 Educator of the Year award from the National Association of Dental Laboratories. She will receive the award Sunday, Jan. 28 — the first day of the three-day national conference in Las Vegas.
Associate professor and Dental Technology Program Director John R. Winings nominated Tiebout for the award. In addition, two program graduates also sent recommendation letters. She was also "strongly recommended" by dental technology faculty and colleagues, Winings said.
Tiebout began her career at SIUC in 1983 as a lecturer. She became an assistant professor in 1987.
The dental technology program is in the School of Allied Health, which is part of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts.
Charla J. Lautar, associate professor and director of the School of Allied Health, notes that in addition to her teaching assignment, Tiebout contributes to dental technology education at SIUC in two important areas.
The first is development of a pending patent during a recent sabbatical to aid dental technologists in their laboratory work. The second is the service that Tiebout provides, with other faculty members and students, for patients through the Community Dental Center and for children through Project Mouth Guard, Lautar said.
"It's an honor to be nominated and to have the support of past graduates," said Tiebout, who lives in Carbondale.
"When you go to meetings they are now representing companies and are the ones to go to with questions about new techniques and materials," she added. "They are the ones who mentor our graduates as they grow in the profession."
Tiebout earned all three of her degrees from SIUC — an associate's degree in dental technology in 1980, a bachelor's degree in workforce education in 1982, and a master's in education in 1986. She began working as an assistant orthodontic technician in 1968. She became a certified dental technician in 1979, and was certified in making complete dentures in 1989.
Winings said one of Tiebout's attributes is her "teaching effectiveness in orthodontics and complete dentures, which has been recognized by her students who get good jobs in Southern Illinois and the state of Illinois in this health-related area."
(Caption: National recognition — Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Leigh A. Tiebout, an assistant professor in the School of Allied Health’s dental technology program, contours a wax denture. Tiebout is receiving the 2007 Educator of the Year from the National Association of Dental Laboratories.)
-- Photo by Jeff Garner