Dr. Mary J. Trotter will be named the 2023-24 Arkansas Tech University Professor of the Year.
Trotter, an assistant professor of music at Arkansas Tech University, was selected through a student vote conducted by the ATU Student Government Association. More than 40 ATU faculty members have been nominated for the 2023-24 ATU Professor of the Year award.
“I’m very honored,” Trotter said. “My students are the reason I’m doing what I do. To be here tonight and be nominated for this… it’s a very humbling and an honor to be nominated. I know I’m on the right path. I tell my students on the first day of class that I see them as people first and students second. But as humans, we have different challenges. At the end of the day, I’m here to work with humans.”
Trotter joined the ATU faculty in fall 2022. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Whitworth University, a Master of Music degree from the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of Minnesota.
She teaches courses in piano and introduction to music in the ATU School of Music. A native of Snohomish, Wash., Trotter has served as pianist for state, local and national American Choral Directors Association and National Association of Singing Teachers events.
Trotter has presented his research at institutions such as Yale University, Colorado State University, Northern Arizona University, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, University of St. Thomas, Gonzaga University, and Southwest Baptist University. She has given multiple lecture recitals entitled “I, Too, Sing America: the Friendship and Collaboration of Margaret Bonds and Langston Hughes.”
“(Trotter’s) extraordinary dedication and compassion go far beyond his role as a professor,” wrote some of the students who nominated him for Arkansas Tech University’s Professor of the Year. “Not only does she excel in developing people, but she also opens her office as a safe space for students and colleagues. She seeks to listen, guide, and comfort those in need. Her attitude reflects her deep empathy and generosity of spirit. She set a shining example of what it means to go above and beyond the job of a professor.”
