For excellence in teaching and commitment to students, forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey of the University of California, Davis has been named "Professor of the Year" by the Omicron Kappa chapter, Chi Omega fraternity.

Kimsey, who teaches a forensic entomology course that's the only one of its kind taught in a major American university, received the award in March from the UC Davis sorority sisters.

Kimsey, an associate professor of entomology, has taught entomology at UC Davis for the past 16 years. His courses also include biological sciences, biology of parasites, and introduction to animal biology. He specializes in insect evidence in criminal and civil law.

A native of Sacramento, Kimsey received his bachelor's degree and doctorate in entomology from UC Davis, and served in the U.S. Army in preventive medicine.

UC Davis junior Nichole Glage, who nominated Kimsey for the award, said the honor is reserved for faculty members who "personally enrich the education of the sisters and touch their lives with their knowledge and wisdom."

Glage, who grew up in Morgan Hill, near San Jose, said she was "very scared of insects" when she enrolled last year in two of Kimsey's courses: Biological Sciences1B and Forensic Entomology 158.

"I decided that if I wanted to continue an educational path leading towards forensic pathology, I needed to see if I could handle working with insects without freaking out," she said.

The students, assisted by graduate student Tara Armijo-Prewitt, tested sampling techniques of maggots on carrion. The group project "made me less squeamish around insects," Glage said.

"I am more comfortable touching insects now," said Glage, adding "as long as I am wearing rubber gloves!"

Kimsey also sets up educational trips for some of his students to the Sacramento County Coroner's Office. "The day that I went with Professor Kimsey and some other students, we were able to obtain maggot samples from a decaying body," Glage said. "I realized that day at the coroner's office that I would not have any problems about working with insects and deceased people."

"Working at the coroner's office has been a dream of mine since my junior year in high school," Glage noted. "However, many people had told me in the past that only graduate students are allowed to have internships at the coroner's office."

Kimsey told the students that the facility offers internships for undergraduates, too.

Beginning in July 2005, Glage began interning one day a week at the Sacramento County Coroner's Office.

"Professor Kimsey helped open many doors for my educational future because of his forensic entomology class," Glage said. "He is a great professor and truly cares about enriching the educational goals of all of his students." Her sorority sisters agreed.

Kimsey's wife, Lynn Kimsey, an entomology professor at UC Davis, is the director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology on campus. The museum, which houses one of North America's largest collections of arthropods, contains more than 7 million specimens.