Two South Carolina educators were honored Thursday as the Governor’s Professors of the Year.

This year’s winners of the annual award were David Ritland, a biology professor at Erskine College, and Martha Hanks, a professor of dentistry at Midlands Technical College.

The Professor of the Year award was created 15 years ago and each year recognizes one teacher from the state’s technical colleges and one from a four-year school.

The two, who were selected from 39 finalists, each received a plaque and $5,000.

Hanks, who has taught at Midlands Tech for 15 years, said she owes the award to her colleagues and students. “Recently I’ve come to understand that students teach me almost as much as I teach them,” she said.

Aside from teaching dentistry, Hanks has spearheaded efforts to give free dental care to disadvantaged children. She also encourages her students to get involved in community service.

Hanks started her career teaching middle school at Fort Bragg, N.C., but said she prefers teaching older, non-traditional students.

“Just because the student’s older doesn’t mean you don’t start with concrete teaching methods, but it’s more like coaching,” she said.

Lori Stephens, one of Hanks’ students, said Hanks inspires students to excel, staying after class or coming in on Saturdays to meet with struggling students. “She makes it so you want to learn,” Stephens said.

Ritland came to Erskine in 1991 after teaching at the University of Florida. “I had classrooms of more than 300 at Florida, and that’s more like broadcasting than teaching,” he said.

Erskine president John Carson called Ritland “the quintessential zany professor.”

“He’s got a razor-sharp mind and a razor-sharp wit,” he said. “His students adore him. David could go anywhere in the world and teach if he wanted to.”

Ritland was named 2000 South Carolina Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

“I never really planned on being a teacher,” he said. “I think a lot of us are really students who never grew up and left the classroom.”

Contact Stensland at (803) 771-8358 or jstensland@thestate.com.