Ghandour named Gerald Francis Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year

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Bilal Ghandour, assistant professor of psychology, was voted the 2017 Gerald Francis Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year by the SGA. 

Ghandour was recognized for his commitment to students in and out of the classroom. In the nomination, student Victoria (Tori) Phillips describes Ghandour in a manner that epitomizes the ideals of the teacher-scholar model by noting the way in which his professional experience as a practicing licensed clinical psychologist, and his research regarding perfectionism, self-harm behaviors (e.g., cutting, eating disorders), and the possible relationships between the two, have allowed him to create highly engaging and impactful experiences in courses such as Abnormal Psychology and Child Psychopathology. 

Ghandour’s professional and scholarly experience combined with a notable passion for teaching have helped him to foster in students an appreciation for the significance of course topics under investigation, while his research work was furthermore noted for its relevance to the mental health of college students.

Ghandour was furthermore acknowledged for demonstrating great commitment to student development through mentoring occurring outside of the classroom. He was recognized for being readily available to his students and for showing great interest in forming more impactful mentoring relationships. 

In addition to mentoring students in undergraduate research, Phillips wrote of Ghandour’s use of the Take a Student to Lunch Program as revealing of his proactive effort to develop other impactful relationships and wrote of his willingness to discuss a range of topics and provide mentorship in multiple domains.