The last two months of 2008 were good ones for UUPer George Curry.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education honored the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) professor as New York State Professor of the Year.

In December, Syracuse and Onondaga County thanked Curry for his dedication to students and in preserving the city’s cultural landscape by proclaiming Dec. 11 as “George W. Curry Day.”

For Curry, ESF’s Kennedy Distinguished Faculty Chair in Landscape Architecture, the kudos were welcome but unexpected.

“Teaching has been a wonderful way to spend my life, and to be honored for that is quite exceptional,” Curry said.

“Congratulations to George Curry for his years of dedication to his students and to his community,” said UUP President Phillip Smith. “He earned his honors.”

ESF Chapter President John View said Curry has actively supported UUP, contributing to VOTE/COPE and sending letters and faxes to elected officials to advance UUP legislative agendas and publicize union issues.

Curry was named professor of the year for his work on campus and in the community, said ESF’s Caroline Bailey, a UUP statewide Executive Board member. Curry was selected from more than 300 applicants.

“George is so deserving of this honor,” she said. “The recipient of this award not only excels in teaching, but positively influences the lives and careers of his students.”

A specialist in urban design and historic preservation, Curry founded the college’s Off-Campus Study Abroad program that requires students to work off campus for a semester on a design project proposed and developed by each student. Curry also played a major role in revitalizing some of Syracuse’s declining neighborhoods.

— Michael Lisi