FAIRMONT – There’s a decided north-central connection in this year’s field of nominees for Professor of the Year by the Faculty Merit Foundation of West Virginia.
Fairmont State University’s Rebecca “Becky” Giorcelli and Sam Zizzi of West Virginia University are in the field of five finalists selected last month by the foundation – which was established in 1984 to honor teaching prowess and creativity in higher education classrooms across the state.
Giorcelli, a professor of information systems management at Fairmont State, has earned numerous accolades in her career that began as an industrial engineer at NASA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
She also developed online courses at the school in fields from cybersecurity to data analytics.
“It’s a passion,” Giorcelli said of her educator role at Fairmont State.
“I have continuously strived to keep our undergraduate and graduate curriculum cutting-edge, so our students can become skilled and successful professionals.”
Zizzi is a professor in the WVU College of Applied Human Sciences who is also known nationally for his work.
He was back in the news as people counted down the seconds to 2026 just after midnight Jan. 1, in fact.
The professor’s research and teaching center around why we set New Year’s resolutions to get healthy and to set health regimens – only to break them, more often than not, before January is turned on the wall calendar.
“That mismatch leads to frustration, relapse and the cycle of starting over every January,” he said.
Meanwhile, other finalists include Rico Gazal, a professor of forestry at Glenville State University; Barbara Ladner, a professor of English at West Virginia State University; and Peggy Fink, a professor of nursing at WVU Institute of Technology.
The Faculty Merit Foundation will begin interviews of the five next month in Charleston.
