REYNOLDS TO RECEIVE CHOWAN COLLEGE AWARD

Sheri Reynolds, associate professor of English at Old Dominion University, on April 28 will receive Chowan College's Mary Frances Hobson Prize for Distinguished Achievement in Arts and Letters.

Inaugurated in 1995, the Hobson Prize is presented each spring at Chowan College in Murfreesboro, N.C. Founded in 1848 by Baptists of North Carolina, Chowan is a four-year, church-related, liberal-arts institution. Murfreesboro is in Northeastern North Carolina, 120 miles from Raleigh and 60 miles from Norfolk.

In January, Reynolds became the 14th Old Dominion faculty member to receive an Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council on Higher Education for Virginia.

The Hobson Award is made possible by Charles Hobson, patron and friend of the college, who lives in San Francisco, but has strong ties to the area. He established the prize in memory of his mother, a poet and journalist.

Each year Mr. Hobson and other members of the family journey to Murfreesboro to be a part of the events on the day of the conferral, which include a luncheon honoring the recipient, an informal dialogue with students, as well as the conferral dinner. The Hobson includes a medal and cash prize.

Sarah Davis, director of the Chowan Writing Lab and coordinator of its tutoring services department, will teach a course on Reynolds' writings. The course promotes a mingling of Chowan students and area residents as they familiarize themselves with the works of the author, Davis said.

More information about the Hobson Prize is available on the Web at http://www.chowan.edu/cac/hobson.