September 12, 2003
NEW ORLEANS NATIVE CHOSEN TO FILL TOUPS CHAIR AT NICHOLLS
THIBODAUX
– Dr. Myron C. Tuman recently joined the faculty at Nicholls
State University as the holder of the Belle L. and Leonard J.
Toups Endowed Chair in English in the College of Arts and Sciences.
“What attracted me to Nicholls was the enthusiasm I found
in colleagues and administrators I met with during the interview
process. I quickly sensed that here at Nicholls were people
who truly shared my passion for undergraduate education,”
Tuman said.
A native of New Orleans, Tuman earned a bachelor’s degree
in English from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s
degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of
New Orleans and a doctorate from Tulane University.
Dr. Anita Tully, head of the Department of Languages and Literature at Nicholls State, said, “Dr. Tuman is a nationally-known expert in rhetoric, especially in the use of technology to enhance composition. He developed Norton Textra, one of the first software packages for use in computer labs, and he is presently working on using the Internet as a teaching tool. Dr. Tuman will lend his expertise to all writing programs on campus, from developmental through advanced courses, and will seek to make NSU a center for excellence in writing.”
Tuman said his immediate plans at Nicholls include investigating
the use of electronic resources to enhance writing courses and
other classes not primarily focused on writing, such as literature.
He also has plans to start a monthly composition interest group,
to meet with NSU administrators and faculty to discuss writing-related
issues, and to strengthen outreach efforts with K-12 educators
and writing professionals in the area.
He also has several professional projects underway. He is working
on revising www.readinglinks.com, a free Internet site he and
a colleague created in 2001. The site provides links to reading
materials of interest to college students and educators. Tuman
is also developing a textbook from the site’s material.
Tuman was chosen after a nationwide search to fill the $1 million
chair that resulted from a 1984 donation by the late Belle Toups,
a native of Abbeville and a teacher in the Lafourche and Terrebonne
parish school systems for 20 years. Her husband was an educator
in Lafourche and St. Charles parishes, a state representative
and mayor of Thibodaux from 1954 to 1966.
Tuman got his start as an educator as a middle school and high
school teacher at Louis S. McGehee School in New Orleans. Prior
to coming to Nicholls, he was an English professor and director
of the English computer laboratory at the University of Alabama
in Tuscaloosa, where he taught courses in reading and writing
in cyberspace, freshman and advanced composition and British
literature.
He and his wife, Virginia “Ginny,” have three adult children, Jeremy, Kathryn and Dawn.