Eureka College music professor Jan Wanack of Peoria is the recipient of the 2007 T.A. Abbott Award for Faculty Excellence given by the Board of Directors of Higher Education and Leadership Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

The award is the most prestigious recognition given by the church to members of the faculties of the 14 colleges and universities affiliated with the church.

The recipient is affirmed by his or her institution as a professor who inspires students toward excellence, who continues to grow and learn in his or her academic discipline, who manifests a personal faith and whose underlying educational philosophy, irrespective of academic discipline, is wholeness of person.

The HELM Board of Directors selected Wanack for the award at its board meeting in April. Wanack will be presented with the award at a future ceremony in Eureka. She also will receive $1,000 to be used for expanding her library, developing new courses or continuing education and research.

Wanack received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education from Bradley University, Peoria. She joined the Eureka College faculty in 1976. Her teaching responsibilities include applied voice, music history, music literature and diction. She serves as coordinator of the college’s Senior Seminar Program. She was the recipient of the college’s Helen Cleaver Distinguished Teaching Award in 2006.

Wanack is a soprano with extensive recital and concert experience. She has served as a clinician, consultant and adjudicator for numerous academic and professional functions. She is the immediate past president of the Central Illinois Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Wanack is a Roman Catholic and a member of the Cathedral of St. Mary, Peoria. She has served as a soloist and section leader in the choirs of her church and several other area churches.

The T.A. Abbott Award was established 24 years ago through a gift to the Division of Higher Education from the descendants of the Reverend T. A. Abbott, a student and later a trustee at Christian University (now Culver-Stockton College). In the 1880s and early 1890s, Abbott pastored local congregations in Missouri, and from 1886 to 1910 he was the corresponding secretary of the Missouri Christian Missionary Society. He died in 1914.

Nominees for the T.A. Abbott Award must be full-time teaching faculty at Disciples-related institutions of higher education. Criteria for selection include quality of teaching, personal example and commitment to the integration of Christian faith and learning.

Wanack is the second Eureka College faculty member to receive the award. English professor Kathy Whitson received the award in 2003.