ANN ARBOR—Carol J. Boyd, associate professor of nursing and of women’s studies at the University of Michigan, has won the sixth annual Golden Apple Award, which recognizes excellence in University teaching.

Boyd will receive the award and present her ideal “last lecture,” titled “The Smoke and the ‘F’ Word: Women and Health,” at 7:30 p.m. Monday (April 15) in the Rackham Auditorium. Robben W. Fleming, U-M president emeritus, will speak at the beginning of the event.

The Golden Apple is awarded by Michigan students to the U-M professor whose ideal “last lecture” they would most like to hear. The selection process and lecture are organized by the SHOUT (Students Honoring Outstanding University Teaching) committee.

According to Michael Kraut, a senior in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) and chair of SHOUT, Boyd was selected because “she had the best combination of sheer numbers of votes and outstanding comments.”

LSA junior Jennifer Buan, who took Boyd’s class on Perspectives on Women’s Health, says “Boyd’s enthusiasm for both her subject and her students is outstanding. Every lecture she gives has the same excitement and energy of those in the first week of classes. She also welcomes disagreement and makes it comfortable to discuss sensitive issues in the classroom.

“Prof. Boyd also is very three dimensional. By that I mean she maintains a terrific balance in her life, functioning as a professor, wife, mother, and feminist. She is truly amazing— the most outstanding professor I’ve had.”

Boyd, who is director of the U-M Substance Abuse Research Center, studies drug abuse among women and has collaborated in research funded by the Institute of Justice and Drug Abuse. Her current research focuses on cocaine use in women, with specific attention to the inter-relationships between behavioral, social, familial, health and treatment factors.