A Shepherd University art professor was selected on Wednesday to be the Faculty Merit Foundation of West Virginia's Professor of the Year.
Sonya Evanisko, who has taught at Shepherd for 23 years, was named the foundation's 2015 professor of the year on Wednesday during a banquet at the state Culture Center in Charleston.
Evanisko teaches painting and drawing at Shepherd and is part of a professional development program that prepares students for the workplace.
"She is a superb teacher and recognized as the heart of Shepherd's studio art program," Christopher Ames, vice president for academic affairs at Shepherd, said in a news release.
Evanisko has art in exhibits around the state and country. She also is active in the community.
She won the university's outstanding academic advisor award last year.
The foundation also named a runner-up professor of the year, as well as three other finalists.
Lisa Di Bartolomeo, director of Slavic and Eastern European studies at West Virginia University, was the runner-up. Other finalists include Jill Cochran, a clinical science professor at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine; John Howard Hull, a psychology professor at Bethany College; and Andrew Paul Nichols, an engineering professor at Marshall University.
Since 1984, the Faculty Merit Foundation of West Virginia has selected a faculty member from a state college or university each year to be its professor of the year. The winner receives $10,000. Other finalists also receive awards. Graystone Consulting helps fund the award.