Margaret Yobbi, of Springfield, an adjunct instructor in the department of Humanities, has been selected to receive the Excellence in Instruction by an Adjunct Professor Award, at NJIT’s University Convocation, an annual celebration to be held Sept. 14, 2011. 

(ATTENTION EDITORS:  Hi-res photos of the researcher will be taken at the event.  To receive a copy and/or set up an interview, call Sheryl Weinstein, 973-596-3436.)

Broadcaster, author and motivational speaker Steve Adubato will speak at the event.  A university lecturer, Emmy Award-winning television anchor, and Star-Ledger columnist, Adubato also served in the mid 1980s as New Jersey's youngest state legislator at age 26.  Previously, Adubato anchored three PBS broadcasts including Caucus: New Jersey, an Emmy Award-winning public affairs television series.

For over 20 years, during the academic year as well as over the summer, Margaret Yobbi has excelled in teaching basic writing skills to NJIT’s most at-risk students. She bridges the transition from high school to college by giving freely of her time to tutor students and thereby helping NJIT retain more students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Her teaching strategies include introducing current events, history and other relevant and interesting topics, as well as introducing a range of unorthodox media including political cartoons, animé, jazz, and video. Through these means, a colleague notes, “she energizes classes and awakens students’ curiosity” and interest in a writing course, an area that many students at NJIT fear. By having students research and write about cultures other than their own, she celebrates the diversity of cultures at NJIT. 

Though she demands high standards, teaching students to analyze, synthesize and evaluate written material, she has consistently received extraordinarily high teaching evaluations. Students leave her courses as better readers, with improved self-esteem, and with stronger skills to contribute to society.