COSTA MESA : OCC Art Historian Named Top Teacher

An Orange Coast College art historian has been named Orange County’s community college teacher of the year for the upcoming school year, a college spokesman said.

Irini Vallera-Rickerson is the second member of OCC’s faculty in the past two years to win the award, which includes a $15,000 cash gift, OCC spokesman Jim Carnett said.

Sandra Savage, professor of mathematics, won the award in 1993.

Vallera-Rickerson, 42, teaches art history, Carnett said. She has been an OCC faculty member for 16 years.

A native of Athens, Greece, Vallera-Rickerson speaks fluent Italian, German, Greek and Spanish as well as English, Carnett said.

He added that Vallera-Rickerson has also taught art history classes at UC Irvine, UC Riverside, Saddleback College and the Southern California Institute of Architecture.

Vallera-Rickerson, who lives in Laguna Niguel, has organized campus symposiums at OCC on racism, AIDS, architecture around the world and ancient Egyptian archeological sites, Carnett said.

She has also worked with several campus clubs, including the American Indian Club, the Gay/Lesbian Club, the AIDS Committee and the Multicultural Committee.

The James Hines Orange County Teachers of the Year Foundation bestows the teacher of the year award annually, Carnett said.