• Yang, an associate professor who teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in therapeutic recreation, makes a point of learning all his students’ names before the second class session, an early indication of the respect and caring with which he approaches his teaching responsibilities. In his classes and labs, he uses a mix of technology, problem-solving, creative exercises, field trips, guest speakers and group discussion (both in class and online) to make his subject matter come alive. He also encourages students to take part in service projects that afford them learning opportunities of a different kind.

Students report that Yang always has time for them — in class, during office hours and at the times they most need him. The words “inspirational,” “caring,” “passionate” and “dedicated” frequently surface in their accounts of his influence on them. Though a faculty member only since 2004, he already has won his department’s top teaching honor.

Yang earned his bachelor’s degree in his native Korea, then completed his master’s in 1997 at The University of Tennessee and his doctorate in 2002 at Indiana University.