2006 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award

Helen Davies, Ph.D.
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

The Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Awards were established by the AOA medical honor society in 1988 to provide national recognition to faculty members who have distinguished themselves in medical student education. The award is named for long-time AOA executive secretary Robert J. Glaser, M.D.

To introduce medical students to the world of pathogenic microorganisms, Helen Davies, Ph.D., came up with a novel concept: infusing a little pop music into complex scientific material.

Since 1971, Dr. Davies, a professor of microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (UPSOM), has created lyrics to teach students the symptoms and mechanisms of various infectious diseases. Sung to the tune of popular songs, these specially adapted versions have been a hit with her first- and fourth-year medical students.

While Dr. Davies' ability to wax poetic about pathogens has drawn considerable publicity outside UPSOM, it is the high regard in which she is held by students, her efforts on behalf of students from groups underrepresented in medicine, and the trail she has blazed for women professionals that have caused so many in academia to sing her praises.

Dr. Davies' 40-year teaching career is one of many "firsts": she was the first female faculty member named to the University of Pennsylvania's department of microbiology (1965), the first woman faculty member to be designated "master of a college house" at the university (1995-2002), and the first woman to ever receive the American Medical Student Association's National Excellence in Teaching Award (2001).

With her dedication to students and obvious passion for teaching, Dr. Davies has touched the lives of many. According to one former student, now a practicing physician, "She single-handedly shaped my life more than any professor I have ever known. When I look back on my twenty-three years of schooling, she stands out as a beacon of what a teacher should be."

Additionally, Dr. Davies was an early advocate on behalf of minority students in higher education and in medicine, and became heavily involved in affirmative action groups and initiatives. From 1968 to 1976, she headed the High School Education Program of the University of Pennsylvania, a program to help bring disadvantaged students to university laboratories. In that period, she also helped found the Association for Women in Science (AWIS), the International Association for Women Biochemists and Biophysicists, and the Women for Equal Opportunity at the University of Pennsylvania.

Over the years, Dr. Davies has held various leadership positions, including president of both AWIS and the University of Pennsylvania's Association of Women Faculty and Administrators, and executive board member of the Penn Women's Center. As a result of her work, Dr. Davies was selected as the 1999 recipient of the Lifetime Mentor Award of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. A few years later, in 2004, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Women of Color at Penn. Additionally, her commitment and passion have led to multiple teaching, mentorship, and academic awards, and she has received more teaching awards from medical students at the University of Pennsylvania than any other professor in the last 50 years.

Dr. Davies received her Ph.D. in physical biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania, her M.S. in biochemistry from the University of Rochester, and her B.A. in chemistry from Brooklyn College. Her primary research interest is in the biochemistry of prokaryotic organisms, particularly bacterial energetics, electron transfer, and the cytochrome system.

Nominate a deserving individual for the Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award, and view a list of previous award recipients.