After winning Nebraska Professor of the Year, some might wonder what qualifies her to be considered the best of the best.

Her students say Swiss punctuality, innovative research exercises and an enthusiastic, caring attitude. A 4.9 out of 5 rating on ratemyprofessors.com did not hurt either.

Psychology professor Dr. Isabelle Cherney was recognized along with 31 other state winners and four national winners in a ceremony in Washington, D.C., conducted by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

Cherney, from Grenchen, Switzerland, moved to Omaha in 1989 with her husband Dr. Michael Cherney (a physics professor at Creighton) and her two sons.

In coming to the U.S., Isabelle Cherney was originally intent on entering the computer industry. But after enrolling at Creighton, the Core curriculum changed her mind. Cherney was first exposed to psychology during her time as an undergraduate student.

“As part of the Core, I had to enroll in a Social Science course. Psychology sounded intriguing. I had no idea that this introductory course would change my career aspirations and the rest of my life,” said Cherney in an e-mail interview.

After graduating from Creighton in 1996, she went on to obtain her M.A. from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Next, she had her first taste of teaching at UNO and Creighton.

Teaching a statistics and introductory psychology course at UNO and an introductory psychology course at Creighton solidified her resolve to going into academia.

“I realized that I had a talent for teaching and that students were generally drawn to my teaching style,” she said.

Cherney then had a busy time while working on her doctorate in Educational Psychology and Cultural Studies at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.

“While collecting data for my dissertation, I was given another unique teaching opportunity. Creighton needed someone to teach full-time for two semesters. I would teach during the day, rush to the school to collect data for several months, enter the data after the boys were asleep and write the dissertation over the weekends, when my husband could watch the boys for a few hours.”

After receiving her doctorate, Cherney joined Creighton’s psychology department.

Cherney’s colleague, Dr. T. Lee Budesheim, recommended her for the Professor of the Year award for her teaching style.

“She sets high expectations for her students and for herself. She is extremely well organized and meticulous in preparing materials for her students, which enables students to know exactly what is expected of them. She knows that students learn in different ways, and so she works hard to convey material in a variety of ways,” he said in an e-mail interview.

“I am like a Swiss train and a Swiss clock. I always run on time,” Cherney tells her students on the first day of class. She is known for starting every class on the dot. But many students enjoy her classes so much that they would not want to be late and miss anything.

One thing everyone notices about Cherney’s classes is her syllabi. Arts & Sciences senior Dan Runco said, “Her syllabus is about 10 pages long. It’s not just a schedule, it’s a guide to her class.”

Cherney also gives a CD to all her students which contains PowerPoint presentations, videos, review questions and Web sites to enhance the learning experience.

“Thus, during class time, they actively participate and contribute to the intellectual inquisitiveness, creating new knowledge,” she said.

Another feature of her class is the intriguing fieldwork for students.

“For our gender studies class, some guys went to the mall carrying around purses to observe peoples’ reactions,” said Runco.

But the most significant aspect of Cherney’s teaching is her concern for students. Budesheim said, “She cares about her students’ development, both personally and professionally – perhaps her greatest strength is in mentoring students in research.”

Ali Rudersdorf, Arts & Sciences senior, has done research with Cherney for the past two years.

“Dr. Cherney allows us to have a lot of opportunities for experience and research presentations. She just really cares, and it shows,” she said in an e-mail interview.

In the past six years, Cherney has undertaken numerous projects. She helped redesign and lead the Honors Program for a year and took students to Posters on the Hill, a conference organized by the Council on Undergraduate Research where research projects are selected to be presented on Capitol Hill. She has also allowed 21 students to co-author publications and has taken over 85 students to conferences across the nation.

Cherney recognizes that she shares the award with the whole university.

“I wanted to teach at an institution that made it their mission to make a difference. I was drawn to Creighton’s mission to teach the whole person. I wanted to give back what Creighton had given me.”