O’Haver earns awards

John O’Haver is the recipient of the 2012 Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher Award at the University of Mississippi. It was the second major award in a week for O’Haver, who was also named as one of the first 12 winners of the Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Awards.

A member of the UM faculty since 1996, O’Haver teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in chemical engineering. O’Haver earned his bachelor’s and his master’s degrees in secondary education and his doctoral degree in chemical engineering, all from the University of Oklahoma. Since joining the UM faculty, he has been the leader for outreach efforts that focus on university-level expertise toward improving science, technology, engineering and mathematics teaching in public schools, with special emphasis in the K-6 grade levels.

He was appointed associate dean for academic and student affairs for UM’s School of Engineering. In this role, O’Haver developed new programs, including a set of writing courses for engineering students and a special class to help certain entering engineering majors shore up their fundamental academic skills.

An accomplished researcher with expertise in applied surfactants and surface chemistry, he publishes regularly in the peer-reviewed journals in his field and has directed the theses and dissertations of approximately 20 students, including a number as part of a cooperative arrangement with institutions in Thailand.

O’Haver and his wife, Kevie, have a son, Hudson, and a daughter, Maren, both 14.