Barbara and Myron Coulter examine their portrait that now hangs on a wall in WCU’s Coulter Faculty Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. The portrait was unveiled during an announcement of the Coulters’ pledge of $100,000 for a fellowship fund at the center.

The fund is made possible by an initial gift of $26,000 from Myron Coulter, chancellor emeritus of WCU, and wife Barbara toward a total pledge of $100,000. Coulter, who now lives in Waynesville, served as Western’s chancellor from 1984 until 1994.

During his tenure as chancellor, Coulter formed a task force charged with improving the state of teaching and learning for students. Dubbed by Coulter “the Devoted Dozen,” the task force recommended the formation of a center to help faculty members strive toward excellence in teaching. The center is now known as the Coulter Faculty Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

“This gift is from both of us to all of you, and to the thousands of students who have already profited from your skills and your complete dedication to education, as well as to the thousands of students who have yet to come and who have yet to profit from all that you do,” Coulter told a crowd of faculty and staff gathered for the announcement in the center, located in Hunter Library. “We hope that we can continue to help in some small way to further the cause of the scholarship of teaching and learning.” 

Chancellor John W. Bardo praised his predecessor for his role in keeping teaching and learning at the forefront of the mission of the university.

“We have a long tradition at Western about caring about teaching and caring about students. The Coulter Faculty Center has embodied that tradition,” Bardo said. “The Coulters have given of their time, they have given of their talents, they have given of their emotions, and they have even given a lot of their family life to this university over the course of years. Today, we celebrate not only their tradition, but also their latest contribution to the center.”

Through the Coulter’s gifts, the center will provide support to faculty members and graduate students conducting research on the study and enhancement of teaching in classroom, laboratory and field settings. The fund will specifically support projects that test or apply innovative and enhancing strategies and practices of teaching with a focus on the personal interaction of the professor and the learner.

Although Coulter officially retired as chancellor more than 10 years ago, he maintains an office on the Cullowhee campus, and he and his wife have continued to support the growth and development of students and faculty, said Provost Kyle Carter.

“I don’t think that I have ever met two people with such a passion and a quiet dedication for a university,” Carter said.

Prior to unveiling a portrait of Myron and Barbara Coulter, Anna McFadden, director of the center, called the Coulters “the center’s biggest cheerleaders and supporters.”