Recognized for excellence in teaching, Soo-Yin Lim-Thompson, Ph.D., associate professor 
at the University of Minnesota, Crookston has been honored as one of seven receiving the Horace T. Morse U of M Alumni Association Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education.
The 2010-11 Distinguished Teaching Awards Ceremony was held on April 25, 2011, in the McNamara Alumni Center in the Twin Cities. This annual event honors the University’s best teaching professors for their contributions to undergraduate, graduate, and professional education. The ceremony included comments from recipients, presentations of the awards, and a reception.
Lim-Thompson is an associate professor in early childhood education on the Crookston campus. She provided campus leadership in gaining institutional approval for teacher education programs from the Minnesota Board of Teaching. Concurrently, she also provided leadership in gaining program approval for early childhood education from the Minnesota Board of Teaching. She actively serves the Minnesota Department of Education as a reviewer for the newly established Minnesota Teacher License Examination for future teacher candidates to obtain their teacher licenses.
Her leadership encourages opportunities to broaden students’ international and cultural perspectives. Lim-Thompson developed 3-week global seminar course to China and also developed a partnership with schools at the White Earth Indian Reservation to provide teacher candidates cultural diversity and immersion.
“My students consistently motivate me to seek creative ways to reach each one, support them during times of challenges, provide and challenge them to discover their fullest potential, and guide and affirm their interest and aspirations in their future endeavor,” Lim-Thompson says.
She serves as a representative on the Children, Youth and Family Consortium Advisory Council and the Minnesota Children’s Summit II Steering Committee, both U of M system-wide committees. A member of the Minnesota Association for Early Childhood Teacher Education and the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Lim Thompson was recognized with the Distinguished Teaching Award at the U of M, Crookston in 2004.
She began working on the Crookston campus in 1998 as an assistant professor and student teacher coordinator. Her educational background includes a doctoral degree in teaching and learning, a master’s of science degree in elementary education, and a bachelor’s of science degree in music education all from UND.
Along with Lim-Thompson, other recipients of the Morse-Alumni award include Professor Christopher Cramer, Department of Chemistry; Associate Professor Kirsten Fischer, Department of History; Professor Jeanne Higbee, Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning; Professor Gary Jahn, Program in Slavic Languages and Literatures; Professor Susan Mantell, Department of Mechanical Engineering from the U of M, Twin Cities; and Associate Professor Michelle Page, Department of Secondary Education at the U of M, Morris.
Recipients of the award are chosen by student and faculty members of the Senate Committee on Educational Policy, previous award recipients, and a representative of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association. T he Distinguished Teaching Awards are sponsored by the Senate Committee on Educational Policy, the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, and the University of Minnesota Alumni Association.
Since 1965, the University has recognized exceptional undergraduate faculty for their contributions to student learning through classroom teaching, research, and creative activities; advising; academic program development; and educational leadership. The award is named for the late Horace T. Morse, who served as the first dean of the University’s General College from 1946-66 and who was a national leader in the ï¬eld of undergraduate education. For more information, visit www.minnesotaalumni.org/DTA.
In the photo at left (l to r):Cody Mikl, student member, Senate Committee on Education Policy; Phil Esten, president and CEO, U of M Alumni Association; Lim-Thompson; U of M President Robert Bruininks; and Thomas Brothen, chair, Senate Committee on Education Policy. Photo by Patrick O’Leary, University Relations, U of M, Twin Cities.
