T. J. ROYAL
Staff Writer
May 14, 2008 11:17 am
—
Tarboro native Dr. Mary Barbe, 49, recently received a prestigious teaching accolade, the Lindback Award, for her work at the physical therapy department of Temple University in Philadelphia.
Her commitment to research and the attention she has paid to her students before and after graduation have won her the respect of academic peers and students alike.
Barbe said her teaching approach involves assuming that her students will one day be her "future colleagues" in academic research or private industry. She said she treats her graduate degree and post-doctoral candidates "with the respect that they deserve" and that she wants to guide them into being "successful, independent researchers and academicians.
"I try to give them the tools they need to be the critical thinkers that they should be," Barbe said.
Her research at Temple in neuroscience, anatomy and cell biology involves almost all of the human anatomy. That breadth of research has given her the financial independence to teach mainly classes with only a handful of students in them.
In a recent Temple publication, 2005 graduate Samir Abdelmagid, who received a Ph.D. in cell biology, said he would never forget Barbe's assistance with his career, and with is growth as a person.
"She dealt with me as a colleague with full respect. She would come to my office to ask about my progress" and review his work before a meeting, Abdelmagid said.
"We still call each other frequently," Abdelmagid said about his continued friendship with Barbe.
Dr. Laurita Hack, 60, chairwoman of Temple's department of physical therapy from 1995-2006 and Barbe's supervisor, said she felt Barbe was "really deserving of this award.”
Barbe has taught at Temple since 1990, and Hack said her impression of Barbe now hasn't changed a lot since she first met her.
"It was clear she was energetic, motivated, fun to be with," Hack said.
As for her work, Hack said "she holds high standards" for herself and for her students.
"She spends an incredible amount of time with people, (to) help them understand, match their learning style," Hack said.
But at the same time, she added that Barbe is very clear about the standards her students are supposed to meet, and that "she's comfortable" with telling them when they are wrong.
But Hack also alluded to an understated side of Barbe's personality.
"She's the only person who ever called me 'boss,'" Hack said, out of all her ten-plus years as the department chairwoman.
In one of Hack's comments about Barbe's teaching style, it is easy to see how effective teaching methods can be picked up by others.
"I never thought of her as an employee, (I) thought of her as a colleague," Hack said.
Barbe said she left Tarboro in 1978 when she began her undergraduate studies at UNC-Greensboro. After finishing at UNCG, Barbe received her doctorate in anatomy from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem in 1987.
Her parents, Dr. and Mrs. Robert Barbe, live in Tarboro, as does her twin sister, Susan Fecho.
Susan is the chairwoman of the Department of Art at Barton College in Wilson.
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