2004 Parkway Distinguished Teacher
Jeff Waters
The Parkway Distinguished Professor program is sponsored by the Parkway Baptist Church in Saint Louis. Southwest Baptist University was invited to select an outstanding faculty member to be considered for this honor. The faculty nominee is one who has made a substantial contribution to Christian education and who has proven to be an outstanding teacher. Last spring, SBU was notified that Dr. Jeffery Waters was selected as the Parkway Distinguished Professor.
Dr. Waters joined the faculty at Southwest Baptist University in 1989. His faculty rank is professor of music, and he chairs the department of music in the Geneva Casebolt College of Music, Arts and Letters. His innovative approach to teaching is well received by his students, and he always encourages them with enthusiasm and humor. Dr. Waters is an excellent mentor and Christian role model for his students.
He has demonstrated his willingness to serve the University by teaching many different courses, serving on various committees and task forces, and organizing festivals and concerts. He is a consummate professional and an outstanding saxophonist.
Dr. Waters received his bachelor's degree in education in 1982 from Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama. He earned his master's degree in 1985 and doctorate in 1991, both in performance, from the University of Georgia in Athens.
As a faculty member he has represented SBU in public recitals, church events and appearances at state and national conferences often performing his own compositions or those of his wife, Dr. Renee Waters. He has performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and at conventions of the North American Saxophone Alliance, the World Saxophone Congress and the Missouri Music Teachers Association. Dr. Waters led the University's department of music through a successful NASM accreditation visit in April 2002 and currently serves as secretary/treasurer for the Missouri Association of Departments and Schools of Music.
He and his wife are members of First Baptist Church in Bolivar, and have been married for 18 years. They have two children, Kelsey and Mitchell.