Geology professor Kenneth Verosub "is not just dedicated to teaching undergraduates," says Peter Dale, vice provost for undergraduate education. "He is dedicated to changing the culture of teaching." For that vision, Verosub was named the 1997 California Professor of the Year today by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Since his arrival at the University of California, Davis, in 1975 as an assistant professor, Verosub has become recognized as an engaging, broadly skilled faculty member who perpetually raises his level of performance and challenges the university to do the same. He is adept at conducting geophysical research, inspiring students to learn, and motivating colleagues to take new approaches to teaching. If faculty members were seismic zones, Verosub would be a triple junction. He credits Davis' collegial environment for encouraging innovation. "I would not have received this award if I did not have colleagues in my department who respected what I was doing and allowed me to do it," Verosub says. "I'm also proud to be at an institution that values teaching as much as it does research." The Professor of the Year awards annually recognize the most outstanding undergraduate instructors in the country -- those who excel as teachers and influence the lives and careers of their students. The Carnegie Foundation, an educational-policy center based in Menlo Park, makes the awards in cooperation with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, an association of professionals from the fields of alumni relations, communications and development. Four national professors of the year were also announced today. They are: Outstanding community college professor: Harold R. Cohen, professor of biology, College of DuPage, Ill. Outstanding baccalaureate college professor: David A. Berque, professor of computer science, DePauw University, Ind. Outstanding master's university and college professor: Albert A. Maisto, professor of psychology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Outstanding research and doctoral university professor: Christina Maslach, professor of psychology, UC Berkeley. Verosub, 53, is the first California Professor of the Year winner from UC Davis since the awards were established in 1981. His contributions were recognized at home in 1988 with the UC Davis Distinguished Teaching Award from the Academic Senate and in 1996 with the $30,000 UC Davis Prize for Undergraduate Teaching and Scholarly Achievement from the UC Davis Foundation. "My goal in the classroom is to engage students as active learners," Verosub says. His unconventional geology classes open with music matching the theme of the day's lesson. He reads relevant news stories aloud, punctuates lectures with small-group discussions, and sends follow-up notes to students by e-mail. He has shared his ideas and experiences in training sessions for other university professors and for K-12 teachers. He has also advised the National Science Foundation on programs for enhancing undergraduate education. As a researcher, Verosub is an expert on the magnetic properties of sediments and sedimentary rocks. His development of new methods for studying those properties is leading to new knowledge about global climate history and environmental change. Much of Verosub's time in the past four years has been spent working with the university faculty and administration to establish the Davis Honors Challenge, a campus-wide undergraduate honors program. In the four-unit Honors Challenge seminars, professors lead small groups of students in collaborative, multidisciplinary studies of contemporary problems. Seminar topics have included physician-assisted suicide, violence in the media and flooding in California. "There has been a lot of criticism of universities as not preparing students for the real world, for the kind of team-oriented environment that is found in the modern workplace," Verosub says. "These courses are designed to model the workplace in an academic environment." His students applaud. "The best feature was that Verosub basically facilitated the class and did not 'instruct' the class," said one student's year-end review. "Creativity and ingenuity are what was being asked for and that was what the students were giving." However, for faculty accustomed to traditional teaching methods, "facilitating" can be difficult. To help the seminar professors find new ways of leading, Verosub holds training and discussion sessions. "I want to emphasize the extraordinary effect the new program has already had in galvanizing faculty interest in new teaching methods," wrote Peter Dale in his letter nominating Verosub for the Professor of the Year award. "It takes a certain amount of courage to introduce undergraduates to unaccustomed learning formats, but it takes another level of courage altogether to risk the indignation and even ridicule of experienced faculty by insisting that they develop a better way of communicating their knowledge to their students. "Professor Verosub has not hesitated to take the risk, and the result, as I can already see ... is a quantum leap forward in faculty willingness to engage in serious discussion of how students learn." A small group of Verosub's colleagues will gather at 5 p.m. at the University Club to toast his award. A more formal celebration is planned for January, after Verosub returns from a 40-day research trip to Antarctica.