Caron St. John, associate dean of the College of Business and Behavioral Science at Clemson University, has received the Dr. Charles Townes Individual Achievement Award for outstanding leadership, innovation and technological excellence in the Upstate community.

St. John is the founder and director of the Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership at Clemson and director of the MBA program.

The Dr. Charles Townes Individual Achievement Award honors an individual who exhibits a commitment to the advancement of technology and the Upstate community through technology-oriented contributions. Such contributions may be business, civic and/or educational in nature and must benefit the Upstate.

InnoVision is the premier awards program focused exclusively on celebrating achievements in innovation and technological excellence in the South Carolina Upstate region. The following 10 counties are in the South Carolina Upstate region: Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg and Union.

For more information about Clemson's graduate programs in the College of Business and Behavioral Science, visit http://business.clemson.edu/.

The award is presented, for outstanding undergraduate classroom instruction, to a faculty member nominated by the student body and selected by the Student Alumni Council. Kosinski receives a $2,500 stipend and a plaque. He will be honored at commencement May 11.

Kosinski joined the Clemson faculty in 1984. He earned his B.S. in biology from Seton Hall University in 1972 and his Ph.D. in ecology from Rutgers University in 1977. He teaches the freshman biology course for biology majors.

Nominators said Kosinski's enthusiasm for biology and extensive knowledge of the subject helped them get excited about learning.

"Dr. Kosinski does amazing demonstrations during class, which is usually a highlight to my day," wrote one student nominator.

Another wrote, "He is always excited in class and makes even some of the most dull topics seem interesting and fun."

Many of the students who nominated Kosinski said he was their favorite professor at Clemson.

"This was a tremendous surprise for me," Kosinski said. "I had no idea that 'Alumni Master Teacher' and my name would ever be mentioned in the same sentence."

The professor said his job is to ease the transition for freshmen from high school to college.

"I have to get students ready for upper division biology classes. I help them learn to succeed in a fairly rigorous and demanding course," he said.