Jack Jensen Award for Excellence in Teaching

The Jack Jensen Award for Excellence in Teaching is the college’s highest teaching award. It honors a teacher who communicates high expectations and encourages intellectual curiosity within and across disciplines; respects diverse talents and ways of learning and uses variety in instruction; and engages students and inspires them to do their best work. The award is named for the late Professor Jack Jensen who, through his dedication to teaching, inspired faculty and students alike.

Theodore “T.J.” Smith

Assistant Professor of Exercise and Sport Sciences
Director of Colby-Sawyer’s Athletic Training Education Program

Since 2005, Assistant Professor of Exercise and Sport Sciences and Director of Colby-Sawyer’s Athletic Training Education program Theodore “T.J.” Smith has shared his expertise with students in the classroom and with student-athletes as they compete for the Chargers athletic teams.

An athletic trainer and certified strength and conditioning specialist, Professor Smith is a multi-faceted leader in the state’s athletic training community; he chairs a number of the New Hampshire Athletic Trainers’ Association’s committees and has served as the organization’s treasurer.

Above all else, he is committed to his students’ success and recognized for encouraging them to meet high expectations. He engages every student in the classroom by employing a variety of instructional methods and providing opportunities for students to solidify learned skills through hands-on application. In nominating him for this award, students spoke of his enthusiasm to meet with them after class, during office hours and via email to help them reach their goals.

“Professor Smith possesses a deep dedication to our program and every student in it,” one senior said. “He carries a lot on his shoulders and still makes valuable time for his students.”

Professor Smith shares his passion for learning by supporting student engagement at the local and regional athletic training continuing education conferences such as the New Hampshire Athletic Training Association’s Student Symposium. He supports the Athletic Training Club by facilitating annual hands-on cadaver labs at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, and he was a lead organizer of the 2018 Exercise and Sport Sciences & Athletics Symposium.

“If it weren’t for him,” another student nominator said, “I do not think I would … see the growth in myself that I have from my [first] year.”

Professor Smith also provides his valuable perspective to the college by serving on the Faculty Development and Research committees as well as the Academic Review Board.

As is the tradition for the Jensen Award winner, Professor Smith will deliver the Commencement Address, “Learning Among Friends.”

A resident of Georges Mills, Professor Smith joined the faculty in 2005. He holds a B.S. in physical education with a focus in athletic training and an M.S. in human performance from Frostburg State University.