CHARLESTON, W.Va.

Bonita Lawrence, a mathematics professor at Marshall University, won the Faculty Merit Foundation of West Virginia's Professor of the Year award Wednesday night at the West Virginia Culture Center.

Lawrence, a faculty member at Marshall since 2001, receives a $10,000 cash prize.

She sits on the Marshall University Faculty Senate, the university's Open House for prospective students and parents and as a volunteer for the Keith Albee Performing Arts Center, where she was involved in major refurbishing efforts over the last four years.

She also has received several awards at Marshall for excellence in teaching, including the Charles E. Hedrick Outstanding Faculty Award.

Lawrence earned a Ph.D. in mathematical sciences from the University of Texas at Arlington, a master's degree in mathematics from Auburn University and a bachelor's degree in mathematics education from Cameron University in Lawton, Okla.

Scott Beard, a Shepherd University music professor, was first runner-up for the award. Other finalists were Carolyn Peluso Atkins, a speech pathology and audiology professor at West Virginia University; Judith Maloney, associate professor of biomedical science at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine; and Brian W. Moudry, a math, physics and computer science professor at Davis & Elkins College.