About the Bingham

The Bingham Fund for Excellence in Teaching was established in 1987 as a result of the vision and generosity of the late Mary and Barry Bingham Sr. and the late William T. Young. In addition, since 1990, the program has offered support for continuing professional growth and improvement through the David and Betty Jones Faculty Development Fund, made possible by the gifts of Mr. and Mrs. David Jones and William T. Young.

The Bingham Fund and its restricted endowment are administered by a separate Bingham Board of Trust. The original, basic endowment of $5 million has subsequently grown to nearly $116 million through appreciation and additional gifts. 

I have immense appreciation for the outstanding teaching done by Transylvania faculty and profound respect for the Bingham awards, which encourage and reward that teaching excellence.

John K. Roth, professor emeritus at Claremont McKenna College

Bingham Board of Trust

Staff Liaison

Rhyan Conyers
Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness
Transylvania University
Lexington, Kentucky

The Bingham program is perhaps unique in American higher education. Many colleges and universities insist that teaching excellence is central to their mission. Often, however, we don’t really discuss specifically and honestly what exactly constitutes ‘excellent teaching’ and how to achieve it. What the Bingham program has done is create a sophisticated mechanism, involving extensive consultation with and examination by professors from other liberal arts institutions, to evaluate classroom instruction at the university.

Jonathan Berkey, professor of history at Davidson College