Brian Byrd, Western Carolina University’s professor of environmental health sciences and resident “skeeter man,” was awarded the 2026 University of North Carolina System Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Byrd has been with WCU since 2008 and has taught thousands of Catamounts over his tenure. His most recent courses include “Epidemiological Methods,” “Vector-borne Disease Control,” “First Year Seminar” and “Global Health.”