A Shaper of Young Minds

When Sherry Salyer got a job as a lecturer for UNC’s Department of Exercise and Sport Science in 1992, she only had her bachelor’s degree and worried her colleagues wouldn’t see her as qualified. Her previous job was as a middle school health and physical education teacher and a coach. She was also concerned how teaching middle school students differed from college students.

Those doubts faded when Salyer started working at Carolina. She worked her way up from the lecturer position to teaching professor in 2014. Salyer has been a seven-time finalist for the department’s Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award, which she won in 2001 and 2007. In 1997, she took on the role of academic advisor which gave her a perspective many faculty members didn’t have and helped her interactions with students.  

“She doesn’t just help these young people to be smarter, but also to be more thoughtful and prepared to shape the world — not just be in the world,” said Anthony Hackney, a professor in the department.

Read the complete Carolina Story from the University Gazette…

Sherry Salyer received the C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award in 2017.

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