Jim Sullivan's windowsill is running out of room.
It is lined with awards he has received over the course of his three-year teaching career, including his personal favorite: the student-made "2011 Awesome Award."
In April, he had to find some more room when he was awarded the Associated Schools of Construction's 2011 National Teaching Excellence Award at the organization's 47th Annual International Conference in Nebraska.
Sullivan said his favorite part of the job was the quality of his students.
"The building construction students are great," he said. "They are hard-working, diligent and fun. Teaching is like having 60 construction interns at a job site."
Christopher Silver, dean of the College of Design, Construction and Planning, said Sullivan is one of the more popular professors among students because of the time and personalized attention he gives them.
Sullivan, a UF alumnus, has been teaching at the school for the past three years. He is in charge of construction techniques and surveying classes, and also teaches graduate-level sustainability courses.
He first became interested in building construction because of a job he took to pay for his undergraduate degree in advertising and master's degree in mass communication.
After working a part-time construction job to pay for classes, he said he realized it was his calling. He went on to get a master's degree and doctorate in building construction.
Sullivan became involved in the construction business, but then realized teaching better fit his lifestyle.
And he's been racking up awards ever since.
Not only has Sullivan been recognized nationally, said Silver, but he also received the college's Teacher of the Year Award and the Dean's Faculty Service Award at the school's commencement ceremony.
"He has a lot of interaction with students, likes working with them and he's good at it," Silver said. "I'm not surprised he won."
