From left: Amanda Moyer, the 2023 recipient of the Dr. Jim Dyer Award for Academic Excellence; Madeline Dyer, wife of the late Dr. Jim Dyer; and Jennifer Campbell '97, first recipient of the Dyer Award.

Liberal Arts graduate had highest GPA in humanities

Mohawk Valley Community College presented the 25th annual Dr. Jim Dyer Award for Academic Excellence to Amanda Moyer of Vernon Center, the Liberal Arts graduate with the highest grade point average in the humanities.

Moyer was a double major at MVCC who graduated in December 2022 with a high GPA in each of her degrees — Liberal Arts & Sciences: Humanities & Social Science AA and Liberal Arts & Sciences: General Studies AS. Moyer, who aspires to be a high school librarian, is now majoring in Adolescence Education English at Utica University, where she was named to the Dean’s List in her first semester. 

Moyer was honored Monday, July 10, 2023, at a small gathering hosted by the MVCC Foundation and School of Humanities, where she was presented with an award certificate and scholarship prize by longtime MVCC Humanities Professor Dr. George Searles. Also in attendance were family members of the late Jim Dyer, including his wife, Madeline, and the very first recipient of the Dyer Award, Jennifer Campbell, who graduated from MVCC with honors in 1997. Campbell is an educator and experience designer in Boston with more than 20 years of experience in the field of education and curriculum design.

The Dr. Jim Dyer Award for Academic Excellence was founded by MVCC faculty in honor of Jim Dyer, Ph.D., a beloved humanities professor who served MVCC for nearly 50 years. Upon his retirement from full-time teaching in 1996, the MVCC Board of Trustees named him Professor Emeritus. His passion for teaching kept Dyer in the classroom, and he continued as an adjunct professor through 2011. Dr. Dyer passed away in May of 2012.