From left, Virginia Intermont Provost Mark Roberts congratulates Jay Phyfer, founder and chair of VI's Photography and Digital Imaging Department.
BRISTOL, VA - Virginia Intermont College recently named Jay Phyfer the 2011 Outstanding Faculty member. Phyfer received accolades as "a prime example of excellence in creating strong, mentoring relationships with students" and in injecting adventure in the learning experience.
"Jay Phyfer's vitality is infectious and buoys us all," said one nominator, reflecting on his impact on thousands of students as professor of photography and digital imaging for 38 years and founder and chair of the renowned program of the college.
Phyfer joined Virginia Intermont's faculty in 1973 and launched the department. It has grown to include five full-time faculty and offers both Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees with advantages that also include top facilities and unique opportunities for students to explore the limits of the medium.
Enrichment opportunities range from lectures with renowned artists to workshop trips to locations such as the U.S. western landscape, and an internship program providing full photographic coverage of one of the South's best music festivals, Bristol's annual Rhythm and Roots Reunion.
Graduates of the program include Preston Gannaway, winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography, and multiple award winner Jeffrey W. Allison, the Paul Mellon Collection educator for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, one of the top comprehensive art museums in the United States.
Phyfer specializes primarily in color processes and teaches color photography, advanced image based classes, film studies, introduction to classic photographers and western landscape. The latter includes an extended field photography trip for students each year to northern Arizona.
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Southern Illinois University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Arizona State University.
