TROY , Ala. —Dr. Bryant P. Shaw, acting chair of the History Department and director of General Studies at Troy University , is the 2004-2005 recipient of the Ingalls Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching, the University’s most prestigious honor for faculty members.

Dr. Shaw, a resident of Montgomery , was presented the award at the 2005 Honors Convocation held Monday in the Claudia Crosby Theater on the Troy Campus.

The Ingalls Award is given annually to the teacher on the Troy Campus who has “most diligently, effectively and cheerfully conducted his or her classes during the current academic year.” Students nominate faculty members for the award, and a committee of students and faculty advisers selects the recipient.

Dr. Shaw came to Troy University in 2001 after serving as academic dean of the Department of Defense’s Africa Center for Strategic Studies, an organization that explores issues of defense and democracy in Africa . In addition to his current duties at TROY, which include teaching courses on African history, Western Civilization, U.S. history, historiography and disease and history, Dr. Shaw assists the Department of Defense on issues concerning the military and democracy and HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Dr. Shaw served in the U.S. Air Force from 1970 to 1999 in a variety of assignments, including director of academic affairs for the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington , D.C. During his military career, he served tours in South Korea , Belgium and sub-Saharan Africa . Prior to that, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of Botswana .

From 1995-96, he was chair of the Military Studies Department and assistant dean at the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala. In 1996, he held the college’s Distinguished Chair of National Military Strategy. In 1992, Dr. Shaw was appointed director of Air University ’s Air Power Research Institute.

From 1988 to 1991, Dr. Shaw served as a policy advisor in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, African Region in the Pentagon. He also served as acting chair of the History Department at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs , Colo.

In 1992, created a “Military and Democracy” seminar program for the Department of Defense. He has presented the program to civilian and military groups throughout sub-Saharan Africa .

Dr. Shaw received his doctorate in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he received a Fulbright-Hayes Fellowship for research on the military history of the Belgian Congo . He is a Fellow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Seminar XXI Program on Foreign Politics and International Relations.

Dr. Shaw said he was honored to receive the award. “Because this award comes directly from the students, it is one of the most meaningful that I have ever received,” he said. “The students are what Troy University is all about. It is a privilege and pleasure to teach here.”

Dr. Shaw and his wife, Carol, have two grown sons, David and Tony.