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Principal Lecturer Reid Compton Receives Award from University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents

Faculty / 17 April 2019 /

Three faculty members in the University of Maryland’s College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) received the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents Faculty Awards for distinguished performance in mentoring; scholarship, research or creative activity; and public service.

These awards are the highest honor presented by the Board of Regents, and the recipients will be formally recognized at a special ceremony on April 19, 2019, in Baltimore.

Reid Compton
Reid Compton. Photo courtesy of Reid Compton.

Reid Compton—principal lecturer, associate chair and director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Biology—received a Faculty Award for Excellence in Mentoring.

Over the course of his 22-year career at UMD, Compton has taught more than 150 credit-bearing courses in addition to serving as an academic advisor for over 100 undergraduates each semester. From 2009 to 2018, Compton directed the College Park Scholars Life Sciences Program, one of 12 interdisciplinary programs designed to intellectually challenge and engage academically talented first- and second-year students. Scholars from the same program live together in a residence hall and have the opportunity to participate in internships, research, community service, study abroad programs and travel. Currently, as associate chair and director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Biology, Compton develops curricula and leads educational initiatives to prepare students for future careers.

“Through these roles, he has had an impact on literally thousands of students and made profound contributions to the lives and future directions of hundreds of students who would call him a mentor,” said Amitabh Varshney, dean of CMNS.

Compton’s previous honors include the 2018 Kirwan Undergraduate Education Award and a National Academies Education Fellowship in the Life Sciences in 2008-09. In addition, six UMD Merrill Presidential Scholars recognized him as a faculty mentor.

Compton received his Ph.D. in biology from the University of Virginia in 1984 and his B.S. in biology from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1978.