AAG Distinguished Teaching Award: Ibipo Johnston-Anumonwo
The AAG is pleased to present the 2016 AAG Distinguished Teaching Award to Ibipo Johnston-Anumonwo.
The 2016 Distinguished Teaching Award is being given to Ibipo Johnston-Anumonwo for her contributions to geographic education both within and outside the classroom. She has been a faculty member at SUNY College at Cortland for over 25 years where she is an exemplary teacher-scholar with a strong national and international reputation in the discipline of geography. Johnston-Anumonwo is highly active in geographic education through various organizations such as the National Council on Geographic Education, the New York African Studies Association, and the AP Human Geography Program. In addition, she has published in numerous textbooks on Africa, urbanization, and feminist geography. Finally, her outstanding career in teaching is evident in her dedication to student success.
A citation for Ibipo Johnston-Anumonwo follows.
Ibipo Johnston-Anumonwo, State University of New York, College at Cortland
Dr. Ibipo Johnston-Anumonwo is highly qualified for the Association of American Geographers Distinguished Teaching Award for skillful teaching which incorporates innovative and transformational approaches in curricular and co-curricular endeavors. During her 25-year academic career at SUNY College at Cortland, she has maintained an exemplary record as a teacher-scholar in undergraduate research, graduate courses, in-service teachers’ workshops, and pre-k to high school presentations. Most notably, she has served in expanded leadership roles for the ETS AP Human Geography examination for over ten years, serving a 4-year term on The College Board’s Test Development Committee.
Dr. Johnston-Anumonwo holds a bachelor’s degree in Teacher Education from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, where she was born. She earned a Master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a PhD from the Graduate School of Geography at Clark University. Professor Johnston-Anumonwo’s portfolio of geographic education has been truly outstanding as evidenced by her letters of support. According to a colleague, her “work has made valuable contributions to geography, as well as to closely aligned disciplines.” She regularly presents her scholarship on Human Geography and African Geography to audiences of educators at the conferences of the National Council of Geographic Education, the Association of Third World Studies, and the New York African Studies Association. She has organized conferences and panels featuring student forums and teachers’ workshops that have underscored transformative and inclusive content and practices in geographic education. Africa is the geographic focus of her teaching and research in gender and development.
Dr. Johnston-Anumonwo’s definitive chapter, “Geography and Gender in Sub-Saharan Africa,“ in the widely read Aryeetey-Attoh’s Geography of Africa textbook, is identified as one of her most influential contributions in light of students and instructors’ acclaim of the piece, now in its 3rd edition. In sum, Dr. Johnston-Anumonwo is an accomplished colleague whose professional horizons continue to expand in ways that enhance the national and international visibility of geography as a discipline. Her dedication to work in geographic education is closely aligned with her teaching and service activities. It is with great honor that she be recognized with the AAG Distinguished Teaching Award.
