[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 138 (Tuesday, December 7, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S11890]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               EDUCATION

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I appreciate having this opportunity to 
express my congratulations and note for the Record the achievements of 
Dr. Steven F. Barrett who has just been named the Wyoming Professor of 
the Year. This prestigious honor is the only national award that 
recognizes the performance of college and university professors who 
have produced outstanding results as undergraduate teachers and 
mentors.
  As an assistant professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at 
the University of Wyoming, Dr. Barrett has served as a role model for 
his colleagues on the school's academic staff, as well as the students 
he teaches in his classes. His unique teaching style gets students more 
involved in their classes and increases their commitment to the 
successful completion of their education.
  Dr. Barrett played a key role in the effort to improve the electrical 
and computer engineering curriculum. He revived courses in biomedical 
engineering and image processing that had not been taught for years. He 
also served on a committee to establish a computer engineering degree 
at the university. Thanks in no small part to his efforts, the degree 
was approved by the university trustees in 2000, and the first students 
graduated from the program in 2001. Wyoming students now have the 
chance to obtain a degree in one of the fastest growing job industries. 
That will help to improve their future chances for success and the 
ability of our workforce to compete in an ever changing job market.
  Dr. Barrett's dedication to his profession extends far beyond his 
efforts to establish the computer engineering degree. To ensure his 
students have the skills they will need to prepare them for post 
graduate life, he has upgraded the department's course work and 
laboratory activities involving microcontrollers, which are small self-
contained computers. When he couldn't find a textbook he liked for the 
degree, he contacted a close friend and former colleague to help him 
write a text that he could use in his classes. He has gone on to write 
another textbook and is in the process of completing a third. He truly 
does exemplify the characteristics needed to get students excited about 
education and what they need to do to reach their greatest potential.
  Dr. Barrett's classes provide his students with a unique opportunity 
not only to learn, but to take a more active role in the process by 
helping to teach what they have learned. He applied for and was able to 
secure funding from the National Science Foundation for a program that 
improves the interaction between undergraduates and those with 
assistive technology needs. Through the program, students have had the 
support and encouragement they needed to develop a workshop to teach 
assistive technology professionals how to adapt off-the-shelf toys to 
assistive technology teaching aids. His students were also involved in 
the effort to create a 50-page workshop manual that they then used to 
help teach the workshop to assistive technology professionals across 
the state of Wyoming. By giving students these life experiences, they 
can more readily see the positive impact of the skills they have 
developed in the effort to improve the lives and education of others.
  Wyoming can be very proud of professors such as Dr. Barrett who are 
such an integral part of our Wyoming school system. His dedication to 
the future of his students and his enthusiasm for teaching continues to 
improve the quality of the education Wyoming students receive in our 
schools, and better prepares them for the challenges they will face in 
their postgraduate years.

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