Teacher and researcher also recognized for support
of university’s Quest for Student Success initiative
Otter, an associate professor of biology, is the
eighth recipient of the President’s Silver Column Award, which McPhee
established in 2004. McPhee, along with Dean Bud Fischer of the College of
Basic and Applied Sciences, recently surprised Otter at his office in the
Science Building with the news.
McPhee said the award “recognizes excellence
at the highest level” and cited Otter for his “passion for what you do, not
only as a teacher, but as a researcher (who) is really making a difference in
your field and for this university.”
Otter, an environmental toxicologist, was
part of a multiagency response team that assessed the impact of the 2009 ash
spill near TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant, described as one of the state’s worst
environmental disasters.
Dubbed “MTSU’s Spiderman,” Otter used
long-jawed orb weaver spiders to measure and gauge the contamination of the
Kingston spill by measuring the toxins absorbed in the fat levels within
hundreds of insects he collected at the site.
“I’ve been given the freedom to do what I
wanted to do,” Otter said. “The lifestyle I can live here, both professionally
and personally, allow me to pursue my passion without having the hurdles in the
way.”
McPhee also cited Otter’s work as part of the
management team for the university’s Quest for Student Success, a series of reforms launched by MTSU to
increase retention and graduation through changes such as academic course
redesigns, enhanced advising, and new student data-tracking software.
Through
that work, the president said, he observed Otter’s “true commitment to
students, your high expectations for students, that passion and desire to see
students (be) successful.”
Born in
suburban Detroit, Otter enrolled at Michigan State University, where he
struggled the first couple of years with what he wanted to do for the rest of
his life until the fear of graduation and life after college sank in.
After talking
with professors and using existing tools to help students facing similar
issues, he developed a method to pick the right career path. The method, which
he called “The College Game Project,” helped him hone in on science as a
career. He later wrote a book on the method for prospective students.
Otter graduated
from Michigan State with his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in zoology and his
Ph.D. in environmental toxicology from Clemson University. After an 18-month postdoctoral
research fellowship at Miami University, he accepted a research and teaching
position at MTSU in 2007.
Otter, who lives in Murfreesboro with his
wife, Liz, and their two sons, enjoys the convenience of having a home just a
mile and a half away from campus.
“We chose to stay here; my wife and I chose to raise our family
here … so we’re (on campus) more often,” he said in thanking McPhee. “My kids
are here everyday. It’s the environment that we love.”
Previous Silver Column Award recipients
include:
·
Ron Malone, assistant vice president for events and transportation
·
Cliff Ricketts, a 38-year MTSU School of Agribusiness and
Agriscience professor and alternative fuels researcher
·
Judith Iriarte-Gross, an MTSU chemistry professor, 18-year faculty
member, director of the WISTEM Center and champion of the cause of recruiting
girls and young women into science, technology, engineering and math fields
·
Sherian Huddleston, associate vice provost for enrollment
services, now retired
·
Larry Sizemore, supervisor of ground services
·
Suma Clark, retired director of publications and graphics (now
Creative and Visual Services), who now serves as a part-time Web management
team-project coordinator
·
The late Charles Wolfe, a distinguished folklorist, accomplished
author and music historian and English professor.
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