Three professors designated Master Teachers

Baylor Interim President David E. Garland announced the designation of Master Teacher--the highest honor granted to Baylor faculty members for sustained excellence in teaching--on Corey P. Carbonara, PhD, professor of film and digital media, College of Arts and Sciences; T. Laine Scales, PhD, professor of higher education, School of Education, and associate dean of graduate studies and professional development, Graduate School; and Gaynor I. Yancey, DSW, professor of social work, Diana R. Garland School of Social Work.

"It is an honor and privilege to confer the lifetime Master Teacher designation upon Dr. Carbonara, Dr. Scales and Dr. Yancey. All three faculty members were unanimously recommended by the selection committee as excellent teachers, whose years of dedication and commitment to teaching and to our students have been outstanding," Garland said. "They truly represent the transformational experience our students receive at Baylor."

The appointments are based on the profound impact of faculty members in the classroom and on students' lives as judged by the record of the faculty members' achievements and the observations of the various nominators. Nominations may be made by former students of the nominated faculty member or by current or former staff, faculty or administrators personally familiar with the nominated faculty member's record of teaching achievements and other contributions to teaching.

Corey Carbonara

A pioneer in the field of high-definition television, Carbonara teaches in the department of film and digital media and serves as director of the Digital Communication Technologies Project at Baylor that researches augmented reality and new immersive visual 3D environments. He also is a Senior Research Fellow of the IC2 Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, a "think-and-do" tank for creativity and innovation.

Before beginning his teaching career, Carbonara served as Sony's first product manager of high-definition video systems for the television and cinema industries. He taught at Baylor initially from 1983 to 1985 then rejoined the faculty in 1986. In 2013, he received the inaugural Nat Tiffen Award from the International Cinematographers Guild for Outstanding Educational Contribution to the Art and Craft of Cinematography. He speaks all over the world on a variety of leading-edge technologies, including digital content creation and distribution, digital cinematography and visual effects, the socio-economic and socio-cultural impact of media, immersive videogame environments and the creative and innovative management of technology.

Carbonara is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Iowa, where he earned a BA in radio/television in 1976 and his master's degree in mass communication theory in 1980. He received his PhD in radio/television/film from the University of Texas at Austin in 1989.

Laine Scales

Laine Scales joined the Baylor faculty in 1999 as assistant professor of social work, has served as associate dean in the Graduate School since 2004 and joined the School of Education in 2008, where she teaches in the PhD program in higher education and leadership studies. Her teaching and administrative focus is on faculty development, including professional development of graduate students.

Through her leadership of such programs as Conyers Scholars, Baptist College and University Scholars, and Preparing our Future Faculty, Scales has mentored aspiring faculty from all disciplines as well as current faculty and administrators through the Summer Faculty Institute, Adjunct Training Institute and Baylor Seminar for Academic Leadership. She was influential in in the creation of Baylor's Academy for Teaching and Learning in 2008, and has served continuously on its advisory board as well as on the provost's Teaching with Technology committee.

From 2008 to 2014, Scales served as Faculty-in-Residence, living among students in Kokernot Hall and has co-directed the Baylor in Oxford summer study abroad program since 2013. She earned her BA in psychology and English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1983, her master's degree in social work from the Carver School of Church Social Work at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1986, and her PhD in higher education at the University of Kentucky in 1994.

Gaynor Yancey

Gaynor Yancey joined the Baylor social work faculty in 1999 and also serves as director of the Center for Family and Community Ministries at the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work. Before joining the Baylor faculty, she worked for more than 25 years as a congregational community ministries director in inner-city Philadelphia and also served four years as executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Food Bank.

During her time at Baylor, Yancey has received more than $3.5 million in research and program grants with a focus on church and community collaboration on issues of social justice. She also has been honored with several awards, including Outstanding Teacher at Baylor in 2006, the inaugural Clovis A. Brantley Award for Outstanding Service in Christian Social Ministries in the United States, the Marie Mathis Award for Outstanding Life Achievement in Lay Ministry from the Baptist General Convention of Texas and Baylor, and the Lifetime Achievement award from the Texas National Association of Social Workers-Central Texas chapter. Besides teaching and her community service, she currently serves as Baylor's Faculty Ombudsperson.

Yancey received her BA from East Texas Baptist University, a master's degree in religion education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a master's degree in social work from Temple University and her doctorate in social work from the University of Pennsylvania.